He's Gone, But Not Yet
by EvErYtHiNg And SoMuchMore
Summary: Richard John Grayson was finishing up his normal school day at Gotham Academy, Christmas break just around the corner. But while heading home, Dick finds himself in an impossible situation. Fighting for his life, he wonders what this person wants from him? But this person wants neither Robin or Dick, but someone completely different. Read and Review! No flames please! ;)
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this idea was racking my brain and I had to do it!**

**What gave me the idea for this story was both an episode of Criminal Minds and the movie "The Call", that's just a warning. (The episode of Criminal Minds is "Mosley Lane"). I hope that you like this!**

**I don't own Young Justice.**

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Weaving his way through the halls, Richard Grayson was attempting to get to his next and final class unscathed.

But trying to get through what seemed like barricades of people both taller and bigger than him was harder than it may seem. Even with all the training he had, and still was, receiving as Robin it's still hard to get through the halls of Gotham Academy.

That's why he usually has his friend Barbara Gordon with him, but today just happened to be one of those days where Barbara wasn't at school. No, she was out visiting her mom, spending the week there. She had left Thursday morning, which was yesterday, skipping the rest of the week. Her dad didn't approved of her skipping school at first, but Barbara managed to convince him.

Because after Friday was over, Gotham Academy's students were having a week vacation for Christmas. So, everyone was excited to be able to bust of this place and go to other countries or visit family with their rich parents. While Dick would stay at the manor with Bruce and Alfred, and they would exchange a few small things then that would be it.

Both Bruce and Dick never did the whole Christmas thing to the max. Because Bruce's celebrations had ended when his parents died, and Dick never really got to celebrate it too much because he was always on the road with his parents. So Christmas was generally a foreign subject, but Alfred had managed to convince Bruce to celebrate Christmas with Dick when Dick was first brought into the manor. Alfred said it would be a good thing to make Dick feel more welcome. Of course at the time he didn't know little Dick Grayson didn't know too much about Christmas or even who Santa was. So Bruce tried to brush it off, and he managed to for that Christman.

But after Dick met Barbara, she had introduced him to Christmas, and all Dick wanted to do after that was celebrate it with Bruce. So they did, and Alfred was happy to have some more joy brought into the manor along with Dick. And surprisingly, so was Bruce.

So now they keep it small. Just spending time for one night at the manor, without having to worry too much about criminals going bump in the night.

Of course, they always kept a close eye on that too, for that is always first priority.

But for right now, all Dick has to worry about is getting to his eighth period Social Studies class.

Dodging a pack of jocks, Dick seemingly hugged the wall for the moment; clutching his books to his chest; and he kept walking. But going through all of this once again, Dick managed to avoid an encounter with some of the less niceish people in the school.

Okay, scratch that, he managed to avoid the dim headed idiots who like to beat up people smarter and smaller than them because they have issues.

But as Dick slipped into his last class of the day he couldn't care less about what those idiots were doing. He was just happy that his day was finally almost over.

Sliding into his assigned seat in the class he immediately looked up to the board for instructions. Figuring out that he should probably take out his work from yesterday he did so and then set everything on his desk in an orderly way. Before Dick could continue reading the board, the teacher came in anyway, and Dick settled himself to pay attention.

Time ticked by and Dick payed attention as much as possible. Which was more than any of the other students, considering most of them were either dozing off, or just staring at the clock for the entire time. Waiting in anticipation for the final bell to ring so they could all leave for their winter cabins and beach houses.

The teacher's ranting was starting to grow tiresome, and Dick found himself drifting to what he would do when he got home today. There wasn't really much to do, but maybe he would go out and be Robin for a bit with Batman. Or maybe he would go to the mountain.

He already knew that his teammates were planning on having a day to celebrate Christmas when everyone could come together to the mountain. Robin was looking forward to it. While Dick however, was looking forward to spending some time with Bruce on Christmas day.

But then he woke from his slight daydream and looked back up at the teacher.

She just wouldn't stop going on and on about things that Dick, along with the rest of the class, already knew. Because she obviously didn't realize that she had already taught them all this last week.

I mean, nobody hates Mrs. Collin, but nobody's a big fan of her lectures either. She actually is a good teacher when it comes down to it, but if she keeps forgetting what she's taught them already and teaching them it again, some of the students may just straight up tell her. Disregarding everything else.

But I guess hearing all of this twice helps them all remember. Perhaps she's doing it on purpose to make them remember.

"Do you all understand that?" Mrs. Collin suddenly asked, snapping Dick out of his inner rant.

They all replied in a unison, "Yes, Mrs. Collin."

"Good," she said back. "well now that that's done, because it's the Friday before vacation, I'll let you chat amongst yourselves for the last few minutes of class."

Some 'yes's were heard throughout the classroom, and the kids immediately began switching around desks so they could talk to their friends.

But because Barbara wasn't here, Dick didn't really have any friends in this class. So he pulled out his iPhone and began working on hacking one of the apps.

Of course he didn't get too far before he was interrupted by someone speaking to him behind him.

"Hey, Grayson." Dick heard, and turned to see Gregory Pallen in front of him. So Dick decided to turn his chair to face him, since he seemed to actually want to talk to him.

"Yeah?" Dick asked casually, wanting to know why he was talking to him. Because Greg has never been a problem for him, he never really did anything. In fact, he was usually one of the few nicer people in the school.

"Uh, I was just wondering what you're doing?" he asked. Dick raised an eyebrow, then looked around the classroom. That's when he realized that Greg didn't really have any friends in this class either, so he must have decided to talk to Dick out of boredom.

"Just messing around with an app." Dick smiled and waved his phone in front of Greg. Greg just nodded, and pulled out his own phone then taking a seat at the desk across from Dick.

"Oh, yeah? What app?" Greg asked. He was obviously just trying to make nice conversation and pass the time to when he could leave.

"Just Candy Crush," Dick replied calmly, hoping that his obvious disinterest in talking to Greg would spare Greg the torture of putting himself in this situation. But Greg just laughed.

"Yeah? What level?" Again with more questions. "I'm on level one hundred twenty two."

"Oh, really? My friend Barbara is on level two hundred and three." Dick dodged the question for what level he was on. Because he wasn't actually playing the game, he was trying to see if he could make it jump him instantly to the highest level so he could freak the people who run the app out. And Dick knew that him knowing how to hack might draw a connection between him and a certain Robin.

"Wow. She's really far ahead of me, huh?" Greg replied. Dick just let out a breathy laugh, hoping he could end this conversation.

"Yeah, yeah she is." And that was it. Greg nodded, and swiveled in his chair; deciding then to play Candy Crush instead of talking to Dick, and Dick was very relieved as he went back to screwing around with the app.

Sometimes Dick wished that people wouldn't only talk to him because he was the only person around, or because he's the ward of Bruce Wayne. Sometimes he wished that people would talk to him because they wanted to talk to _him_. Like how Barbara did, and sometimes even Bette Kane. Even Artemis, who doesn't even know that he's Robin. Not that Barbara or Bette know either, but they aren't superheroes like Artemis. So it doesn't matter as much.

Finally crashing the app, going up to the highest level, the afternoon announcements came on. Everyone became deathly quiet and were ready to jump out of their seats.

And once the woman who said the announcements said, "You may dismiss your students" everyone was already out of their seats and running out the door. While Dick got up a bit more calmly, but still rushed out. But not before waving goodbye politely to Mrs. Collins.

"Have a nice vacation, sweetie!" she said to him as he headed for the door.

"You too!" Dick replied sweetly as he made his way out of the classroom.

Rushing through the halls, he got to his locker and shoved everything into his bag, heading out of the building.

Dick was finally able to relax slightly as he walked down the sidewalk looking for Alfred to come and pick him up. Luckily he didn't run into anyone else after he finally got sidewalks.

But when Dick didn't see Alfred yet, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked for any voicemails. Checking to see if Bruce had called him telling him that Alfred would be late.

_One new voicemail._

Dick sighed, and clicked on the message.

_"Voicemail. If you would like to hear your messages, press one" So Dick did. "One new voicemail..."_

The voice changed into Bruce's voice.

_"Dick, I'm sorry but Alfred won't be able to pick you up from school today. He is having some family issues going on with his nieces, and I can't get you because I have a meeting and Lucius won't let me get out of it. So, you'll have to head to the nearest zeta-beam to get to the cave instead. Then, get into your civilian wear and go to the mountain. I'll call you again later."_ Then that was it.

Dick sighed again, and began heading off in the direction towards the nearest zeta beam entrance, which was just a worn down telephone booth in an alley way.

Dick decided that if he's going to go to the mountain instead today, he might as well call Wally to see what's going on with him and if he's going to the mountain today.

Dick dialed his number. Because he didn't have Wally as a contact in this phone.

_555-734-2313_

Pressing his phone to his ear, he waited as the ringing persisted.

_"The Wall man here!"_ Wally shouted, and Dick couldn't help but laugh at how Wally choice to pick up the phone.

"Hey, 'Wall man'," Dick said, still laughing.

_"Oh, hey Dick! What's up?"_ Wally asked, not caring that Dick obviously found it funny that he called himself the 'wall man'.

"Nothing much. I was just wondering if you're going to the mountain today?" Dick asked.

_"Duh! I was actually just about to head into the zetas when you called,"_ Wally replied cheerfully.

"Oh, good. 'Cause I just got a last minute plan change, and I'll be heading to the mountain too," Dick replied.

_"Bruce have a meeting?"_ Wally asked, he always seemed to know some how.

"Yep, and Alfred's having 'niece trouble'. So he's not around either." Dick heard Wally humm over the phone.

_"Alright, whatever, right? So, I'll see you at the mountain!"_ Wally said, cutting off their previous conversation to Dick's joy.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a few." Wally ended the call after that with a quick 'okay' and a smile you could hear. Dick laughed again, and hung up with a 'bye'.

Dick slipped his phone back into his pocket, and continued walking. Albeit a bit faster than before, wanting to get to the cave so he could change then go to the mountain as soon as possible. Because you don't want to be walking around Gotham alone for too long, even in one of the better areas.

Dick continued to go along, keeping his guard up as usual, but he found himself drifting as he thought about what he would do with Wally once he got to the mountain after changing. Or, more like what Wally would have them do once he got there. He was wondering if he could maybe even spend the night at the mountain or with Wally. Because Bruce would most likely not be coming back to the manor until either really late, or not at all for the night. He would have to ask Bruce if he could first, of course, but Bruce would most likely be okay with it if just for the night.

Seeing the alley way to where the zeta entrance was, Dick forgot what he was thinking and picked up his pace again slightly. But he was stopped in his endeavor to get to the zeta beam entrance by a man asking him a question quite randomly it seemed.

"Excuse me, but can you help me?" he asked. Dick raised an eyebrow then saw that his car's hood was popped open. He must be having some trouble, so Dick shrugged.

"Sure, what's wrong with your car?" Dick asked. The man seemed startled that he already knew why he was asking for help.

"Uh, I'm not sure actually. I just saw you and thought maybe you'd be able to figure something out better than me." Dick smiled and nodded, following the man over to his car. Getting home to change, then going to the mountain could wait. He is Robin after all, he might as well help.

Dick looked the man up and down, he had brown hair and brown eyes. He looked relatively normal. Just in jeans, and a white button down with a jacket for the cold.

Dick peered over the car, and saw immediately that one of the car's spark plugs was missing.

"You see something?" the man asked, and Dick nodded.

"Yeah, one of your spark plugs is missing." Dick pointed out where it was missing. "You'll need to get one or this car isn't going anywhere." The man nodded.

"Wait," Dick started, looking up at the man, "why is one of your spark plugs missing anyway? Did someone steal it or something? 'Cause you couldn't have gotten here without it," Dick asked, warning bells going off in his head.

But the man said nothing, he just shrugged, and Dick raised an eyebrow.

"Okay then.. Hope you figure this out," Dick said, and the man smiled and thanked him for figuring it out. Dick smiled and said 'no problem'. Then he walked away.

Dick looked back at the man, who was looking into the hood of his car. Hands on his hips, and he was shaking his head while sighing. Dick could understand that.

Dick just shrugged the encounter off and continued walking towards the alley where the zeta entrance was. But he was stopped one more time.

"Hey, you got the time?" another man asked. This man had black hair and blue eyes like Dick. An innocent enough question, so Dick pulled out his phone.

"Uh, yeah, it's... a quarter past three." The man nodded and walked past Dick. Dick didn't even bother to look back at him, and he continued walking.

Dick finally managed to reach the alley, and he walked into it. Heading for the phone booth.

Dick sighed, his breath fogging the area in front of his mouth, glad he finally managed to reach the entrance. Dick turned to look around and make sure no one would see him go into the zetas.

But there was that man again, the one with the blue eyes and black hair. Right in front of him.

"Wha-" before Dick could finish his sentence the man had thrust a piece of cloth into his face. Grabbing him and holding him in a neck lock before Dick could do anything.

Dick breathed into the cloth, startled, and smelled the chloroform the cloth was soaked in.

Panicking, Dick flailed his legs and grabbed at the man's arms, trying to pry him off. Screaming as loud as he could, but the man just held on tighter. Dick's eyes widened to their full width and he tried so hard to kick him, but it was impossible in this position.

Dick felt his limbs getting heavier and the man thrust him in different directions to disorient him. It was working.

With one last gasp, Dick felt his eyes slip closed and his muscles relax. The man never loosening his grip.

No thoughts. Just panic had consumed Dick in that moment. He didn't even have time to hope for anything before he watched as the black creeped up on him from all sides of his vision.

He fell deeply into a panic filled sleep.

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**I hope that this has intrigued you and that you'll read the next chapter once out!**

**I also hope you liked this and will tell me what you thought! No flames though. Don't like it, don't read it! Constructive criticism if you must. I like hearing from you guys on what I should do to either improve, or telling me you like it in general!**

**So, as always. REVIEW! REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! I'm surprising myself with this quick update too, and especially with how long it is! Jeez!**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter and review too! ;)**

**I don't own Young Justice.**

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Wally West sat in anticipation of his best friend arriving at the mountain.

He had already come up with a bunch of things they could do once he got here. Wally was thinking about video games and food. He wondered if Dick was hungry, and whether or not he would be willing to make Wally brownies with that recipe that Alfred taught him. He could just smell them now.

Of course, Wally also knew that he wouldn't be playing video games with Dick Grayson, but Robin. The rest of the team would think so too. But it doesn't really matter all that much, because no matter what name he uses; he's still the same person. Albeit a bit different in some aspects. But the thought is still true.

Richard Grayson is the polite rich kid, who kisses up to every adult he can.

Robin is the bat brat who loves to show off without being stuck up about it, if that makes sense.

Then there's Dick Grayson. The really real Dick. The original. He's kind of a mix between both Richard and Robin. He's polite, but not stuck up. He's nice to everyone, but he won't try and use his niceness to his advantage. He loves his mischief, but he knows when to stop. He is all for justice, and second chances too. He's purely him.

That's why Wally loves it when he can hang out with just Dick. Because he knows his friend doesn't have to shift into some character to fit his surroundings. Wally wishes that Bruce wouldn't be so strict about the identity thing so Dick could be his true self around his team. Sure, being Robin he's being himself too. But he's not being his full self, just the parts that fit the Robin character.

He really wishes the team could meet Dick for real. He know that they'd really like him.

"Hey, Wally. What's up?" M'gann asked coming into the room. Wally was sitting on the couch in the living area, still waiting for Robin.

"Oh, nothing much green cheeks. Just waiting for Rob." M'gann hummed and smiled. She floated over to the kitchen area which you could still see from the living area because they're connected.

"What're you going to do once he gets here?" M'gann asked sweetly, seemingly starting on making a batch of cookies for practice. Practice which Wally was definitely going to be eating. Wally just shrugged.

"We'll probably play some video games and eat food. Well, I'll eat food. Not to sure if Rob's hungry or not," Wally said, going back to internally relaying his options. M'gann smiled again, and went back to her batch of cookies. Then Wally found himself looking around.

"Hey, where's Supey?" Wally asked, noticing the clone's absence. M'gann looked up from the bowl she was putting batter ingredients in, and looked at Wally.

"Oh! He's just in the gym. He got frustrated at his door's keypad earlier, so he's just 'blowing off some steam' as you earthlings say," M'gann explained. Wally nodded in understanding. He could totally see Superboy angrily punching in numbers to try and get into his room, but nothing working. Red faced, and full of clone anger. Wally laughed at that thought, only because he isn't in Superboy's rage path this time.

"Alright, that's cool," Wally finally replied. M'gann nodded again, going back to what she was doing.

Wally looked towards the zeta tubes, looking in anticipation for Robin. He should be here by now, considering the fact he should at least have been at the manor by a few minutes prior, and it shouldn't be taking him all that long to change into his civvies then come to the mountain. To say the least, Wally was getting worried.

That's when Wally heard the whirring of the zeta tubes, and assuming it was Robin, Wally ran as fast as he could to the zeta entrance. He didn't even wait for the recognition sound.

He was already in front of the entrance, but then he heard the recognition sound.

_Recognized, Artemis, B07_

The usually green clad female archer walked out of white light. Only to see the disappointed face of one red headed speedster.

"What?" Artemis asked, scrunching her face up a bit as she looked at Wally's frowning face. He just frowned more.

"I thought you were Robin," he replied in a mopey voice. Artemis just raised a blonde eyebrow.

"Do I look like a 13 year old, 90 pound, boy acrobat?" Artemis said, sarcasm dripping off her words in glops. Wally just rolled his eyes and sighed, heading back to his place on the couch in the living area.

Artemis raised her eyebrow again, and followed the speedster into the room.

"So, where is the little bat?" Artemis asked after waving to M'gann and watching Wally plop himself down onto the couch. He sighed even more deeply this time.

"I have no idea! He should be here already!" Wally shouted in exasperation. Artemis just scoffed.

"Are you sure he's even coming to the mountain today?" Artemis asked, thinking that Wally may be mistaken on where the bird should be heading.

"Of course! I talked to him on the phone about twenty minutes ago! He asked me if I was heading to the mountain, I told him yes and he told me that he was coming here too. He just said that he had to go home for a few minutes so he could change, then he'd be here right after that," Wally said, and Artemis frowned.

"Well maybe his parents or something stopped him, delaying him," Artemis suggested. But Wally just waved her off.

"No, his parents aren't home. No one is. That's actually the reason he's coming to the mountain anyway, because his parents told him to come here because they wouldn't be home!" Wally exclaimed, managing to keep the word 'parents' smooth in his sentences; as if Robin still had any.

Artemis just furrowed her eyebrows again, "Well, then he'll be here. You're just impatient," Artemis said, and Wally sighed again.

"Maybe. But I can't help but feel worried that something happened. You know, him living in Gotham and all..." Wally trailed off. Artemis had to agree, and can understand full well why Wally is so worried. Because she lives in Gotham for one thing, and because on the street; Robin looks like a perfect target being so short and thin.

"I get it," Artemis said after a bit, and Wally looked up at her.

"Yeah?" Wally asked, wondering if the archer was being genuine.

Artemis nodded, "Yeah. He's your best friend, and Gotham's Gotham. So, I get why you're worried. But for now, I say wait it out a bit longer. If he still doesn't show, then you can freak out and go looking." Wally smiled and nodded, glad that this didn't end with more bickering. Artemis smiled a bit too, then went over to M'gann to see how she was doing with the cookies.

Wally sighed, and got up from his place on the couch. He knew that Robin was most likely just running late, maybe even something was going down in Gotham, but he couldn't shake this feeling.

So, he decided that it'd probably be best to check on him.

Wally walked out of the room and into his room, for privacy, and re-dialed the number Dick used to call him. Waiting for him to pick up as he listened to the ringing, Wally speed walked back and forth. He was just hoping that his concerns were unjust, and that Robin was fine and would pick up the phone.

_"You've reached an automated voice message system,"_ Wally heard come over the phone, and he immediately hung up force habit. Now he was really worried, but then again maybe Robin just switched phones or something.

But just incase, Wally ran over to his laptop and plugged in his phone. He backtracked Dick's phone to it's GPS chip, hoping that he could see where it is right now. Because if it was at the Wayne manor then Wally knew he'd have nothing to worry about. But anywhere else, and Wally would have to investigate he decided.

Wally watched as he computer screen lit up, revealing the location of one Dick Grayson's phone.

On the map it showed the phone to be in an alleyway in Gotham. The same alleyway where the zeta tube entrance for Gotham was.

Wally couldn't help the fear creeping into the pit of his stomach. Dick wouldn't still be outside the zetas by now, and he most definitely wouldn't lose his phone. Bruce would kill him if he did, or worse; he would suspend him being Robin.

Wally knew Dick was responsible to a point since he met him. So seeing the flashing light pointing to an alleyway in Gotham, Wally rushed out of his room. Dialling Robin's main phone just incase he did lose it, then maybe Wally could help him get it back.

Wally practically flew past Artemis and M'gann, and now Kaldur who was standing talking with the both of them. Their attention now was shifted to the speedster. They ran after him to see what was wrong, and found him already punching in coordinates into the zeta beam tunnel.

"Kid Idiot, what're you doing?" Artemis asked, as she; M'gann, and Kaldur, all seemingly appeared behind him.

"Something's wrong," was all Wally said in response. Artemis raised and eyebrow, and both M'gann and Kaldur looked at Wally confused.

"If this is about Robin, I can assure you that he's fine-" Artemis began, but Wally cut her off by thrusting his phone in her face which displayed the location of Robin's phone.

"What are we looking at here, exactly?" Kaldur asked as they all looked at the phone.

"The location of Robin's phone. The one he used to call me about a half an hour ago now," Wally said as he finished punching in the last numbers to the Gotham zeta tube entrance.

"What about it?" Artemis asked. Wally sighed, realizing that they most likely weren't going to let him go anywhere without a proper explanation.

"The location of the phone is just outside the Gotham zeta tube entrance. The zeta tube entrance that Robin should have used at least twenty minutes ago. I know that he's definitely not with the phone either, because it's not moving," Wally explained. But Artemis just raised an eyebrow.

"Well, maybe he just dropped it or something," Artemis suggested, getting the approval of the others as well. Wally sighed even more deeply, agitation filling his tone now.

"I already went through this with myself! Robin wouldn't lose his phone! Ba- his parents would kill him if he did! He's not that irresponsible, in fact, he's really responsible!" Wally exclaimed, glad he was able to easily recover from his stumble. Because he knew saying 'Batman would kill him' would raise more questions than 'his parents would kill him'.

"Okay, calm down Wally." Artemis finally said, she then looked at the others. "M'gann, go get Superboy. If this is serious I'd rather have him here." Artemis seemed to have come to a decision, and Kaldur didn't seem to be about to stop her, despite him being the leader.

"Wait, what're you doing?" Wally asked. Artemis just looked at him like he was an idiot, she was probably thinking that too.

"If you really think that something may be wrong, then we're not about to let you go alone," Artemis explained. Wally cocked an eyebrow, then nodded.

"Okay. But I get to be leader because I am Rob's best friend!" Wally said, and Artemis rolled her eyes while Kaldur shook his head.

"Okay! Whatever, it doesn't matter to me," Artemis said, and Wally smiled and nodded. But the fear for his best friend was still evident in his eyes.

Artemis said nothing as she watched M'gann arrive with Superboy. She had changed he skin and clothes to something normal, and Superboy wasn't wearing his trademark black Superman shirt. He was just wearing a plain dark blue shirt instead. M'gann had also brought a scarf for Kaldur along with a jacket for him as well, knowing that it would be cold in Gotham.

Looking at Wally she couldn't help shake the feeling that he may be right, and that scared her.

"Alright, let's go," Wally said after slipping on a jacket as well, while Artemis was already wearing one anyway. They all nodded, and followed him into the zeta tunnel. Finally consumed by white light, they arrived in Gotham.

Filing one by one out of the cramped phone booth, they looked around at the dank alleyway. It looked about as expected, and Wally began walking forward. His eyes were scouring the ground.

Then his eyes caught on a iPhone in a blue case on the ground.

He bent over and picked it up. The screen was cracked, but it wasn't completely broken. It looked like someone had thrown it to the ground expecting it to brake. But they obviously didn't know how strong these damn things could be. Wally had a friend who had one, and that friend accidently dropped it off the roof of his house (for whatever reason, Wally never asked) and if fell into the road, where it got ran over by a car. He got his phone back, and it only had one crack on the back.

Wally examined the phone again, and immediately pulled his shirt out placing it on top of the out stretched fabric.

"I found it," Wally said to them at last.

"Why'd you put it on you shirt like that?" Artemis asked, and Wally looked down at it again.

"Incase there are any fingerprints or something, I wouldn't want to disturb those," Wally said.

"You mean fingerprints that aren't Robin's," Artemis commented, and Wally nodded.

"Well, duh," he shot back at her, but he couldn't keep a straight face as he thought about what could have happened.

"What do you think then?" Artemis asked. Wally just used his shirt to hand M'gann the phone, because she has gloves on.

"I'm not sure," Wally began as he looked around the alleyway. "but I can already tell that someone tried to break that phone, and obviously failed. But I don't think whoever they are cared all too much," Wally said, running himself through all the scenarios, not liking any of them. He could feel his concern and his fear growing every second he looked around the alleyway.

"Look around," Wally ordered, "see if there's anything that might point to what happened here." Wally then took out his phone and began calling all the numbers he had for Robin. There were quite a few, because the bat is just that protective.

But each number he dialed just came up with the same thing.

_"You have reached and automated voice message system."_

Fear growing and growing all around him. That's when he noticed Artemis staring at something on the ground in the alley.

"What is it, Artemis?" Wally asked as he walked up to her. She pointed to where she was looking.

"Recent scuff marks. That indicates there was a struggle here, and I think there's a trail..." Artemis' words fell off, and she began following the so called 'trail'. Wally followed close behind, trying to see what she was seeing.

But then she stopped at the wall. There were a few trash bags, but she was looking at something in particular. Wally followed her eyes, and found himself face to face with something he didn't want to be seeing.

It was a black Gotham Academy uniform dress shoe.

"Wally," Artemis began, "does Robin go to Gotham Academy?" she asked slowly. Wally just nodded, knowing that that wasn't enough information to figure out Robin's identity.

"Yeah. He does," Wally said even slower. Artemis then pulled something out of her pocket. It was an evidence bag that Wally didn't even realize she had. She then reached down and picked up the shoe, carefully placing it in the bag. She walked over to M'gann after that, and pulled out another evidence bag, having M'gann place the phone in the bag as well.

"Artemis, why do you have those with you?" M'gann asked, as she looked at the shoe in the other bag.

"I keep them with me. Green Arrow said to always be ready for a crime scene, he said that you never know when something might be the difference between solving a case; and it going cold," Artemis said as she handed Wally the bag with the shoe.

"What do you think we should do now?" M'gann asked as they all regrouped. Artemis just couldn't stop looking at the shoe and phone, like she was trying to piece something together in her head.

"We should tell Batman. That's all I can think of to do," Wally said after a moment, and the rest agreed.

They filed back into the zeta tube one by one, heading back to the mountain.

Robin still wasn't there, and that only confirmed what they found in the alleyway.

Wally walked over to the holo-computer system and sent a distress call to Batman's communicator. Even though Wally knew that he was in a meeting, he also knew the meeting could wait for this.

A growling, "What?", came over the interface. They couldn't see anything, for there was no picture at the moment, but they could hear Batman talking, and he could hear them.

"It's Kid Flash, Wally, Batman sir," Wally said, trying to think of how he was going to explain this in the shortest way.

"I can see that," he growled, so apparently he could see them but they couldn't see him. "What do you want?" he asked, not in a calm way either, he was obviously at the height of whatever meeting he was in. So, he probably wasn't too thrilled that he was being interrupted at such an inopportune time.

"It's Robin. He's missing," Wally stated planly. He could hear Batman, well Bruce, shift his position over the line.

"What happened?" he asked, more calmly. He was most likely hoping that they were just mistaken, and that he was just late to the mountain. Perhaps caught up in something else.

"About thirty five minutes ago now, Robin called me telling me he was coming to the mountain after he changed into his civvies." There was a grunt as to say, okay, continue. "So, I waited, and after twenty minutes or so I decided to call him again to see if everything was alright. But he didn't pick up." Wally could almost hear Bruce's concern growing as he spoke.

"I then decided to trace his phone's GPS signal, so I could know if he was just in the middle of changing at home or something. But the signal showed that his phone was in the alleyway outside of the zeta tube." There was a deep breath over the line, and Wally continued. "I knew that he shouldn't still be there, and that he wouldn't lose his phone like that. I know he's more responsible than that, and you know that too." Wally stopped for a moment, waiting for something from the bat.

"Continue," Batman said in a quieter voice.

"So I, along with the rest of the team, went to that zeta tube entrance area in Gotham." Anticipation rose in the room. "And we found Robin's phone cracked, like someone tried to break it. We also found recent signs of a struggle, and Robin's Gotham Academy uniform shoe thrown to the side of the alleyway. As if he flung it off while kicking at something or someone." Wally and the rest of the team waited for Batman to say something to cut the uncomfortable silence.

Finally he spoke. "I understand. I'll be there as fast as I can." Then the call ended, just like that.

"Wait," Artemis spoke. "if Robin was taken as his secret ID, doesn't that mean that Robin's not missing, but whoever he really is?" Wally's heart sank into his stomach.

"Yeah, and that means that the league can't get involved for fear of suspicion," Wally said, concern filling him. He knew now that there was no possible way to keep Robin's identity a secret anymore, they'd all figure it out.

And he knew that Batman would be even less happy about that too, just to add on to the fact that his almost son is missing.

Wally braced himself for all hell to break loose.

* * *

**There's another chapter for you guys! Sorry that you'll just have to wait to see what's going on with Dick. I thought that the best thing to do was have this chapter just with what's going on with Wally and the team as to sort of set up everything else.**

**I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, and will continue reading once the next chapter is up!**

**So... REVIEW! REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! Sorry that this took longer to post then normal, but I had to figure out what I was doing with this chapter and I had to make a lot of decisions.**

**I hope you like this regardless! Enjoy!**

**I don't own Young Justice.**

* * *

It was all a painful haze.

Dick could feel his arms pressing painfully against his back, and his lips sealed shut by duct tape. He breathed deeply in through his nose, trying not to panic for fear of suffocating.

He began to open his heavy eyelids, feeling the skin peeling apart from being closed so long, the first thing he saw was a black ceiling above him. Of course, that's when he realized that it wasn't a ceiling at all; but the underpart of a car's trunk door.

Panic rising in his throat, Dick let his training kick in. He pushed his arms through and under his feet and legs, getting them to the front of his body. There was just enough light to see that his hands were tied together with plastic wire, along with his feet. But with his hands in front of him now, he began feeling around the small space for something he could use to pry open the door. But evidently the only things he could find in the space was a gray blanket, and a piece of lint.

Dick had to stop himself from thinking about every scenario that could happen if he couldn't get out of here. All the things that the man who took him could want. Everything.

Dick breathed in and out deeply, then began peeling the tape off his mouth so he could breath better; no matter what the man would do about it. Feeling the tape's sticky adhesive peel off his lips, he sucked in a deep breath through his mouth. Taking in, and letting out as much air as he could he let the stars fade from his eyes and focused on whatever else he could gather from being here.

He still smelled the chloroform burning in his nose and throat, while he could hear the engine of a car underneath him. He could feel it too, the warmth radiating up from the floor, yet everywhere else cold to the touch. While he could also feel the shaking of the running engine, and the inertia of being in a moving vehicle.

Dick peered around once more, looking for something identifiable about the car he was in. He could see nothing that would help him, but he could tell that the car he was in was still fairly new. It had more space in the truck than normal, which obviously wasn't by accident for this man. Judging from this, Dick could infer that this was the man's car, not something that he stole.

Dick then decided that the best thing to be now was ready for the man to come and get him, because he knew he would, and because he knew that he wouldn't be getting out of this trunk at the moment.

So Dick pulled his legs forward, glad that he was so flexible, and he began working his fingers to untie his ankles. The knots were expertly tied, and Dick could tell that whoever took him had done this before; that was a disturbing thought.

Prying his fingers into every space he could to untie himself, he finally managed to get one loop big enough to jam his thin fingers into and pull open the knot. Thrusting the rope aside, Dick stretched his legs as much as he could, and then began trying to untie his wrists. Which was proving to be a lot harder.

But he was interrupted in his efforts by feeling the car come to a stop. He could hear the car idling, along with other cars around him. He could also hear people, walking and talking farther away though. That was when a stupid thought struck him.

Maybe if he banged loud enough, someone would hear him? Send help? Tell the police whatever the license plate on the car is? Of course, doing this would mean that the man driving the car he was in would hear him too. He'd probably end up stopping somewhere no one could hear them and knock him out again. He wouldn't want that, but this may be his only shot of getting himself known.

Dick had been in crazier situations before, and this couldn't be the craziest thing he'd done. He knew he had to, and that he would face the consequences if he didn't at least try.

He went for it and began banging on the trunk door, knowing that for the man driving the car it wouldn't be a surprise if he'd done this kind of thing before.

Screaming for help, and kicking hard against all walls of trunk, he could hear the engine being revved in anticipation to get out of here as fast as possible.

That was when Dick heard someone trying to open the trunk door.

* * *

_5 minutes earlier..._

It was a rather normal day for Allen Canten. He was just walking down the street coming home from the supermarket as usual. Allen's 22, and he lives with his friend Eric in their apartment. Eric's 23 though, so he makes Allen do the groceries and cooking while Eric does the cleaning and laundry. An even trade off in both their books considering Allen's the only one who knows what you're even supposed to do with food, while Eric doesn't mind cleaning like Allen.

So now Allen was going down the street, one bag in hand that had just what they needed for the rest of the week to add on to what they already have. Considering the supermarket is a short walk from their apartment, and the fact they don't need too much Allen decided to walk this time. Sometimes he'd drive, other times he wouldn't. But he liked walking, so it was never a problem.

But as Allen reached the intersection, waiting to walk, he heard something coming from a car that was waiting to go.

Usually Allen would ignore the sounds coming from people's cars, because usually the noises were either music, or arguing from the people in the car. But this sound, sounded like neither of the two.

There was thumping and banging, mixed with cries for help. And the worst part? The sounds were coming from the trunk of some guy's car.

The trunk.

And if Allen had seen any cop shows, or any crime movies (which he most certainly had, methodically actually) then he should know that noises coming from the trunks of cars was never good. Especially when it was obvious that there was someone in there calling for help.

Allen turned and faced the car. It was a black honda camry, not the latest version but it couldn't be more than a few years old. And he could see the man driving it, and he did not look happy. He looked very very nervous.

Allen saw that other people were noticing the pleas too, but most were ignoring it. Allen could only assume it was because the sounds were very muffled and could be anything from their cars, but from where Allen was standing it was very distinct.

Nobody else was on the street at the moment because of the cold. So Allen was alone, and he knew that he had to do something. He wasn't that heartless.

So, he pulled out his reasonably cruddy phone and called 911.

_"Nine-one-one what's your emergency?"_ Allen heard a female voice come over the line.

"Uh, yeah, I'm on the corner of nine and sixth ave, and I'm hearing some really strange noises coming from this guys trunk," Allen explained. He was just glad that the light the guy in the car was currently stuck at was broken, always has been, so it skips your turn a couple times before letting you go. So most people are sitting at this light for a good five minutes. Most people try to get out of the line and either do something illegal, or just go a different way instead, but because of the road positioning it's impossible to do so.

_"Can you describe 'strange noises', sir?"_ the woman asked, and Allen nodded despite himself.

"Uh, yeah. There's, like, banging and I think I hear someone shouting 'help'," Allen explained.

_"I understand sir, can you tell me the car's license plate number?"_ the woman asked. Allen leaned his head over to look at the number, when he noticed that the man driving the car was looking at him intensely. Allen swallowed, and quickly glanced at the numbers, trying not to look like he was getting his plate numbers.

"It said, 1-M-6-6-7-U."

_"Alright sir, I'm running that plate as we speak and am sending a squad out,"_ the woman said after a moment of key clicking.

"'Kay." Allen looked around nervously as he stayed on the line. He saw that the man was looking at him again, blue eyes piercing into his very soul it seemed.

_"What's your name?"_ the woman asked.

"Allen, uh, Allen Canten," Allen said, then he looked back over at the car again. "Uh..." Allen stuttered out, and he heard the woman over the line shift at the tension in his voice.

_"Is something wrong?"_ she asked, obviously concerned something was happening.

"Uh, not really. It's just that the guy driving the car with the banging in the trunk, which is still going on by the way, he's staring at me all weird like," Allen said, trying to not make eye contact with the man who was obviously staring at him.

_"Sir, I'd like you to walk in any direction to where you will not stand out and so the man in the car can't see you anymore, okay?"_ the woman instructed him.

"Okay," Allen said, and he began walking back in the direction to where the supermarket was, trying to act like he doesn't notice the man. Allen kept walking until the man driving the car definitely couldn't see him.

"I don't think he can see me now," Allen said.

_"Good, stay right there, the police should be there soon,"_ the woman said. Allen nodded and mumbled a 'yeah' before feeling the need to ask a question.

"Hey, if it's cool, what came up on that plate?" Allen asked, he didn't exactly get the opportunity to be apart of something as scary or semi-exciting as this everyday. So he kind of wanted to be in on someone what's going on.

_"I'm not permitted to release that information,"_ the woman said sternly, and Allen expected as much.

Then Allen looked back over to the car, and he could hear the banging becoming more faint and less driven. Despite how long it may seem, the banging has only been going on for about a minute or two.

Allen stood watching the car, seeing how the man driving it became more and more tense as the sounds persisted. Especially because more and more people in there cars were looking as time went on.

"That's fine," Allen finally said back to the woman.

_"Sorry I don't make the rules, but I do want you to stay on this line and tell me if anything else happens or if the banging stops,"_ the woman said.

"'Kay, oh and the banging hasn't stopped but it's getting fainter. Also the guy driving the car looks pretty pissed," Allen said, giving her the play by play. "When are the police gonna be here? 'Cause, this light won't hold out for that long and it's been, like, three minutes," Allen asked.

_"Only a few minutes now, the nearest squad car was a good six minutes away when you called,"_ the woman explained. Allen sighed and looked nervously at the red light, almost expecting it to turn green despite his will. He was on the verge of praying for the light not to change, urging it to stay red with his eyes.

"Tell them to hurry up or something!" Allen almost yelled, frantically, taking another glance up at the light.

_"They are going as fast as possible. I need you to calm down,"_ the woman said in a clear, soft, yet stern, voice. Allen took a breath, watching as the cold condensed around it.

"I'm fine..." Allen said after a moment, looking back up at the light. He then looked down at the man in the car, he was drumming his fingers against the wheel; becoming agitated because of the slow light. Allen then looked to the trunk, noticing that the banging stopped.

"Uh, the banging stopped, in the trunk, the banging stopped," Allen said in a rushed voice.

_"Alright,"_ the woman said, and Allen heard her typing something. Allen gripped his phone tight, and the hand that was holding his groceries was turning white mixed with red. The blood was trying to flow harder into his hands and ears, in attempt to keep them warm.

"What does that mean?!" Allen yelled into his phone, tired of the woman's short and calm answers.

_"Sir, I need you to calm down-"_ the woman began, but Allen wasn't having any of it.

"I know! I know! You keep saying that! But while you're sitting there sending your non existent police, I'm standing here where there's probably someone in the trunk of this guy's car!" Allen shouted. He was never one to not say anything, or do anything in times of other's needs. Not even in school, he always stood up for the little guy; and he's proud of that. But now he's just standing there, knowing that someone was in life threatening danger.

_"The police will be there any second, there's no reason to-"_ the woman tried to say something again, but Allen just ended the call. He was tired of standing here, and he was tired of holding his phone to his ear when all this was useless at the moment. That light was going to change, and Allen couldn't wait anymore.

Allen got into a crouched position, and walked over to the car. Keeping his himself invisible to the car that the sounds were coming from. He made his way up, and got to his knees, pressing his hands to the cold black metal. He let his hands sweep over the license plate, and he began trying the trunk door. It was locked tight, and so he thought of the next best thing.

* * *

"Hey, anyone in there?"

Dick tilted his head to face the door. He could of sworn he heard someone ask if he anyone was in here, but it couldn't be that. But then again...

"Is someone there?" Dick asked, hope flying up in his stomach to his heart like monarch butterflies.

"Yeah, why are you in there? Were you the one yelling for help, banging the door?" the voice came again, this time more clearly.

"Yes! Help me, help me get out of here!" Dick practically shouted, banging his hands lightly on the door again.

"Why are you in there!?" the voice questioned, and Dick could hear whoever this was was prying at the door again; this time with more force.

"I was kidnapped by who the hell ever is driving this fucking car!" Dick couldn't restrain himself from getting angry. He had been kidnapped enough times already, and this time he wasn't even sure that who took him even knows who he is. Dick Grayson or otherwise. He'd never woken up in a trunk before like this, and the man didn't say anything to him when he grabbed him, so Dick could only assume that the man took him for some other reason. And now he was listening to someone on the outside, asking him questions like that while he's the one locked in the trunk?

"Sorry, stupid question," the voice said, the voice obviously being a young man, a young nervous man. Dick sighed, and tried prying at the door from his end. "I've just never been in a situation quite like this one," the man said.

"Well that makes two of us, sort of," Dick said despite himself.

"Sort of?" the man asked, and Dick could hear as the man took something metal to try and get the trunk open.

"This isn't the first time I've been kidnapped," Dick said, deciding that he was okay with the conversation. For he's spent enough time alone in this trunk.

"Really? Wait, what's your name?" the man asked, and Dick could see why he'd ask that.

"Dick Grayson," Dick said, and he heard the man hesitate in his lock picking for a moment.

"Wait, _the Dick Grayson?_ Like, Dick Grayson-_Wayne?"_ the man asked, stunned, and Dick couldn't say he was surprised.

"The one and only," Dick said, someone glad that Bruce was so well known in Gotham along with himself. It made identifying himself a whole lot easier.

"Oh god," the man muttered. Dick stopped for a moment.

"What?" Dick asked, wondering what the man was thinking.

"It's just, the guy who's kidnapped you, yeah, he's kind of seen my face, and I think that he suspects something of me. Plus, we're kind of in the middle of the road, and the light's not going to stay red forever," the man explained, panic lacing his voice. Dick sighed in fear, and started working more frantically trying to get the trunk open.

"Well then, let's not waste any time!" Dick shouted. The man outside began picking even harder, not caring too much about the noise anymore. "What's your name?" Dick asked after a moment for some reason.

"Uh, Allen Canten," Allen said. Dick filed that name away in his head for later.

"Did you call the police?" Dick asked, and he could hear Allen nodding.

"Yeah, I called them, like, five minutes ago. The lady said they should be here in, like, one more minute," Allen said.

"Did you tell them my name?" Dick asked, hoping that this meant Bruce knew.

"Uh..." Allen stuttered, and Dick felt his eyes widen in almost anger.

"Why not!?" Dick practically shouted.

"I hung up on the police just before I came over here to help!" Allen shouted in his defense.

"Well call them back!" Dick shouted back, wanting Bruce to know he what happened as soon as possible.

"Alright, alright!" Allen shouted, and Dick could hear him flip out his phone.

Of course right at that moment the light turned green, and the car jolted forward with vigor. Dick flung forward and hit his head on the side, while Allen stood in the middle of the street, blocking everyone elses path. He was getting both drove around and beeped at.

He could hardly believe it. Then the ringing in his phone stopped.

_"Nine-one-one what's your emergency?"_

* * *

**Oh god! I can't believe I just did that right there! I literally deleted, like, five scenes and rewrote them or completely replaced them in this chapter!**

**I hope you liked this chapter regardless though! And as always...**

**REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ugh. This took me soooo long to write. I literally had a mix or writers block and laziness. It's literally the worst combo for a writer EVER. Super sorry!**

**Please let this chapter be better for you than it was for me! Disclaimer...**

**I don't own Young Justice.**

* * *

Dick's eyes hadn't moved from their lock on the place he had been talking to but a second ago.

He could feel the car he was in speeding down the street, leaving streaks on the pavement. Kind of like Dick's hope.

He could even hear cars beeping behind him. That Allen guy must be still standing in the middle of the street or something now. Probably trying to gather what was going on right about now.

Dick could hardly accept that he had just come so close to getting out of here, and now all of that was slipping away.

Dick sighed and looked around the space he was in once again, trying to really think all of this thoroughly through. His first thought though, was not something he really had control over.

Because he couldn't believe that this was really happening, that's for sure.

Sure, he has been captured before as Dick Grayson, but this time the man doesn't seem to want money or power as far as Dick can tell. Dick still doesn't know what his reason is.

If he wanted money, Dick would already be in some abandoned warehouse or apartment building or something by now. There would be at least five guys, and they'd all be taunting him, telling him that his 'daddy' will have to pay some unimaginable sum soon or he'll die. That's scenario one, but there were too many flaws.

There's only one guy this time. Dick can already tell that who took him is working alone, just in the nature of how he was kidnapped is a dead giveaway.

Then there's scenario two, which is a supervillain scenario. Someone knowing he's Robin. But that can't be it either, again going back to how he was kidnapped. It was too 'capturing some thirteen year old kid' like for this guy to know he's Robin. Plus, again, he'd already be tied to a chair being interrogated in some the trunk of a car.

Even so, what ever this is he knows that his training from Batman should have prepared him for it.

In fact, his training did prep him for something kind of like this. But for some reason it's like nothing Batman's taught him is really working in this situation.

The training did kick in at the beginning when he first woke up, looking for any means of escape; getting his hands and feet untied along with getting the duct tape off his mouth too. That helped, and now he was ready to get out of this trunk. But it's like he's still in some type of state of panic.

When he was first taken, he wasn't expecting it. He know's that he can't blame himself for not expecting it, but still! The man shouldn't have been able to sneak up on him like that, he's Robin for pete's sake! The Boy Wonder!

But it was like his mind and body were in different places at the time. His body, in the alley way; his mind, at the mountain with Wally.

He was so focused on getting home so he could go to the mountain after words, that he wasn't even paying attention to his surroundings. He let his guard down, and he knows that he was trained better than that. I mean, sure, as Dick Grayson it's not like he could have gone all Robin on the guy, but at least he could have defended himself. He might have gotten away, he might have been able to take that guy down.

He might have even just been able to really get a better read on the guy. Despite already seeing him once before, but that was brief.

But that got him wondering, why had the man asked him for the time like that? Was it just something random, or was it a part of his plan? It must have some significance. Perhaps making Dick not expect him to do anything, or maybe just so Dick would have not really noticed footsteps. But then again, Dick hadn't heard those anyway, he'd been too distracted.

I mean, it's not like this guy has any special training or anything, Dick can see that. But he obviously does know his way around properly kidnapping someone. The way the knots were tied, the chloroform, his speedy and efficient kidnapping, the almost safe guarded trunk so he couldn't get out, even the duct tape. No matter how much of this stuff could be picked up from watching movies, it was done precisely and with a cool head. Not an easy skill to acquirer over night.

No matter how many times it's been said, this man has done this type of thing before.

The only thing that this man wasn't anticipating was Dick being able to get out of his restraints with that much ease. Another thank you to Batman for that little skill.

The man also won't be expecting Dick to fight back once he opens this godforsaken trunk, and Dick's going to fight for real. But he couldn't shake this feeling...

Even with the comforting thoughts that Bruce would know about what happened because of Allen who was probably talking to the police again by now, Dick still doesn't put that much faith in the GCPD. A lot of the cops are corrupted, or they just plain don't care, even under the command of the never corrupted Jim Gordon.

But he'll never forget Allen. He will be forever grateful for what he did, and after all of this Dick'll have to look up and Allen Canten to thank him some how. Maybe Allen will just randomly find that he has an extra one hundred thousand dollars in his bank account? Courtesy of Bruce Wayne. That would be a big enough thank you.

But Dick still also wants to thank him in person too. When he gets out of this that is.

But getting out of this was starting to become a more and more foreign thought as he layed back in the trunk. The car now settling in to a better, more legal, speed. Dick calmed slightly because of this, it means that the man driving the car calmed down a little bit too. So, if they do stop somewhere and the man comes back to knock Dick out, he at least won't try to beat him into unconsciousness.

Dick breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth, he knew that this was going to be a long ride.

* * *

Batman glided unnoticed into the mountain. He was finally able to get away from his meeting with a reasonable excuse. Lucius hadn't been too happy, but he could tell that by Bruce's behavior that this was urgent.

Batman sighed as he looked at the team. Wally looked like he was about to pass out. He must be overwhelmed with something similar to guilt from what Batman can tell. He sounded so heavy over the phone when he spoke about how he had just talked to Robin. It's almost like he blames himself for something he has no power over. There was nothing he could do.

But Wally obviously won't accept that.

Batman sighed, and stepped out of the shadows. He knew that he's have to ask Wally about the phone call with Robin, and that this may not end too well.

"Team," Batman spoke, and they all jumped at the sound of his voice. Their eyes all flew to his direction, and Batman stepped in front of them to talk to them more directly.

"Batman, sir," Kaldur said, shifting into team leader mode. He stepped in front of the rest of the team, and was ready to take and answer all questions. Batman had to think of something to say to the atlantean, for he knew that Kaldur'ahm wasn't the person he needed to talk to. But he also knew that, with Kaldur being the leader, he would expect to be the one who has to take charge.

"Aqualad, I think it'd be best for Kid Flash to answer the questions I have for all of you. He is currently the one with the most information that can help me," Batman said firmly, letting his logic sweep over them. Kaldur seemed only slightly surprised, but then again he almost expected it considering Wally knew the most about the situation.

Kaldur nodded politely, and stepped back to stand with his team. While Wally stepped forward in front of the bat. He knew why he was about to be questioned, and he knew that he just wanted to help as much as he could to get Robin back home safe.

Wally stood and waited for Batman to ask him something, or at least say something. He had to hold back blurting out all of his concerns, fears, and his guilt.

"Can you give me a more accurate description of your conversation with Robin before he disappeared?" Batman asked, obviously his first explanation had been too vague for the bat's liking. Wally nodded.

"Alright, if you think it will help," Wally started, recalling what was said between him and Robin, "I picked up, using my usual 'picking up the phone' greeting," Wally said, not wanting to quote himself on that one.

"What greeting would that be?" Batman asked, and Wally sighed. Of course he would ask that, he probably wanted word for word for crying out loud!

"I said 'The Wall man here!' when I picked up the phone," Wally could hear Artemis scoff, and M'gann giggle, while Batman raised an eyebrow. Wally sighed and fought back a blush. It wasn't embarrassing when he said it to Robin over the phone, but now it just sounded stupid. Wally sighed and continued.

"Robin made fun of me for that too, but I didn't mind. So I asked him what was up, and he asked me if I was going to the mountain today. I said I was, in fact I told him that I was just about to head into the zetas when he called, which I was." Wally continued. Batman looked like he was absorbing the information. Wally could even tell that it made the bat happy to hear that his son was happy before all this happened.

"He told me that that's good, and that he would be coming to the mountain too. I figured out why, and pointed it out," Wally continued and Batman stiffened, hoping that the speedster has enough sense to not tell what he pointed out exactly. He did. "He told me I was right, and I changed the subject. I said that I'll see him at the mountain, and he said he'd be here in a few. I knew that he'd probably have to change before he came, so we said bye and I ended the call," Wally finished. Batman nodded, he knew all about telling Dick in his voicemail to go home first to change then go to the mountain, so this wasn't new information.

"Was there anything suspicious about the call?" Batman asked, wondering if Dick was in trouble and was trying to warn Wally of something along those lines. Even though that's very unlikely. Because based on what he's heard so far, it just sounds like Dick was really just heading home. Excited to see his friend despite the circumstances.

"Nope, it was a normal call. He was really relaxed," Wally responded, and Batman grunted, not expecting anything less.

"Alright. You said that you found his phone and shoe outside of the zeta tube entrance in Gotham," Batman asked, more like he was just confirming. Just making sure he heard everything over the phone right.

"Yeah, it looks like he never even made it into the zetas. So he was definitely taken as his secret ID," Wally emphasized, getting his message across to the bat. Batman nodded, growing stiff. He knew that Robin was taken as Dick, but Wally saying it just now made it more real. Batman wasn't quite sure what he was going to do. He couldn't just open up to everyone all of the sudden, he's not even sure he'd find the right words regardless. He didn't know what he was going to do.

"So this means that the league cannot get involved," Batman said, and the team all just looked nervously at each other.

"Yeah, and this also means that we can't look for him without knowing who he really is," Artemis pointed out, wanting to know if her suspicions are correct. Batman shot her a half hearted glare, and sighed.

"No," Batman finally said, surprising them all, "this means that I'll have to leave this up to the Gotham City police." He was hoping that he wouldn't have to do this, but he knew that he couldn't let Robin's identity slip id he could help it. But it seems like this situation was getting more and more out of his control.

The team stood in shock, wondering if they were imagining this. The Batman just told them that not only would they not be able to look for Robin, but neither would he.

"But Batman-" Wally started to protest, but then he heard a faint buzzing coming from the Dark Knights cape. Batman seemed genuinely surprised, and he pulled out a normal cell phone from his cape. It was ringing, and when Batman saw whatever the caller ID was he took a breath and held it there.

"I have to take this," he said before molding into the shadows again. The team could no longer hear him or see him. Not even Superboy.

Batman picked up the phone, and pressed it to his ear. Hoping that this wasn't the call he thinks it is.

"Bruce Wayne," he said, for this was his emergency Bruce Wayne line, and Jim Gordon was calling.

_"Hello Mr. Wayne. It's Jim, I just need to tell you that about a few minutes ago we got a call into the station about Dick,"_ Commissioner Gordon said calmly. Bruce sighed. He knew that it was, and he was already questioning his decision a moment ago.

"What happened?" he asked, trying to sound oblivious to his son's kidnapping. Yet he could feel even more panic rising since someone had called the police about him. Please let this not be worst case scenario.

_"A young man named Allen Canten called about sounds coming from someone's trunk on the road at a stop light,"_ Gordon started,_ "He said there was thumping and cries for help coming from the trunk."_

Bruce could already tell where this was heading, and he couldn't help but worry about the fact that Dick had chosen to make himself known. He wasn't yet sure if this was a good choice or a bad choice on his part. But that only means that Dick had no other options too, and that made Bruce cringe.

_"He told the operator this, and then got the car's plates,"_ Bruce sighed, good choice. _"we ran the plates and found them to be faulty,"_ Bad choice. _"But we did get the make and model of the car from the man later on."_ Back to good choice. _"Then the man continued talking to the operator, before growing agitated and hanging up,"_ Bruce began growing angry because of this. Why the hell would someone hang up on the police like that! What if something else happened!

_"But don't worry, we had already sent a squad out, and regardless the man called back again a few minutes later."_ Bruce sighed in relief that this Allen wasn't a complete idiot, and he signaled Gordon to continue. _"He told the operator about his previous call, and got forwarded to his last operator. He explained that he went to the trunk to see if he could help, and ended up talking to the person in the trunk."_

_"He said that the person in the trunk said their name was Dick Grayson, as in your Dick Grayson,"_ Gordon said. Bruce already knew this by now or course, and he sighed. If Dick was in a trunk of a car, then that means that this wasn't the usual ransom type of kidnapping. This was something different, something that Bruce had no idea about.

"Alright. Where is this 'Allen Canten' now?" Bruce asked. He had now completely reconsidered his previous decision to not have Batman or the team get involved. Because this isn't the usual kidnapping, he couldn't just leave it up to the police like he said he would before. He wants to talk to Allen himself and work this as Batman, pretending Bruce Wayne called him about it. Maybe the team could help too.

_"He's at the main GCPD building. In fact, I was just about to talk to him,"_ Gordon said.

"Could you wait?" Bruce asked, "I'd like to have Batman work this," Bruce said, he now definitely has made a decision.

_"You're gonna bring him into this?"_ Gordon asked, and Bruce sighed. He knows that Jim knows when Batman has to take cases, but sometimes he feels like Batman takes all his work. It's not lack of respect, but a little jealousy. Bruce also knows that because Dick and Jim's daughter Barbara are such good friends, he feels like he owes it to his daughter to be a part of helping her friend. But Bruce has to make him let Batman in on helping find Dick, he needs to find him as soon as possible.

"He's been able to save Dick many times before, and I trust him to be able to do it again," Bruce said calmly. He heard Jim sigh.

_"Couldn't you leave this to the police this time Mr. Wayne? We'll be able to find Dick just as fast, and with more manpower. Also, according to Allen Canten this kidnapping isn't like a ransom kidnapping like usual,"_ Gordon said, trying to get Bruce off of what he sees as a pointless placing of faith.

"Exactly. I know that with ransom kidnappings your force can handle them well enough with me paying whoever off. But if this isn't a ransom kidnapping, then that means whatever it is can be handled better by him," Bruce said, and he could feel Gordon's doubt. "But that doesn't mean I want the police out of this," Bruce finally said, going with the most help he can get.

He knows that he needs the police helping on the ground for the public, while Batman can be using his own resources and searching for Dick in the shadows. Also, this can't seem like Batman has any personal connection with Dick. So, it's best to keep up image with the police, and get things done with Batman. Even though he does have faith in Jim, and he'll probably be able to help a lot.

_"Alright, I'll put up the signal and have the bat talk to the kid. I'll also need you here as soon as possible to work on making sure this really isn't just a ransom case,"_ Jim said.

"It'll take me a while to get there though," Bruce said, knowing that he couldn't be there the same time Batman was. "I'll get there when I can."

_"Fine. But don't worry Bruce, we'll find him."_

"I know."

Batman ended the call, and headed back to where the team was waiting.

They all stood and watched as he approached them, a look they couldn't quite identify firmly set on his face.

"I just got an update from the Gotham Police through my secret identity emergency line," Batman began, seeing how his words took the attention of them all. "Batman is going to be working the case, and you're all going to come with me," Batman said completely out of character. He knew that even if he refused the team to look for Robin, they would do it anyway. So it seems best to have them working the case with him.

"Wait, you want us to come work Robin's kidnapping case with you?" Wally asked, "But doesn't that mean that we'll have to know who Robin is?"

Batman nodded, "Yes, and I fully expect you all to not act surprised when we get to the police station in Gotham." They looked at each other in mutual confusion.

"Wait, you're not going to tell us now?" Artemis asked. Eyebrows raised as if she couldn't believe that Batman wasn't just going to tell them now.

"I'm going to let you be told by Commissioner Gordon instead as he explains the nature of the events occurring," Batman said. Batman knows that he will never be able to explain Dick's full back story or what's going on in the kidnapping with him right now. It only makes sense to have Gordon do it and then let the team look through Dick's files, then he'd fill in the rest. No matter how strange it may sound.

"Why not just tell us now?" Wally asked. Batman sighed.

"Because we need to get to the station as soon as possible, and once that happens I won't have to explain anything," Batman said, and they all nodded, acting as if they understood his logic. "Get suited up."

They obeyed, and got ready to see the true face of Robin.

* * *

**Well there's that! I hope that last part made sense to all of you... And if it didn't, just ask and I'll tell you!**

**But basically Batman knows that he can't do Robin's true backstory justice, so he thinks that once Gordon explains the case of Dick's kidnapping the team can sort through all of Dick's background information on their own so he won't have to explain everything.**

**Alright!? Anyway, REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Let me start off with a late Happy Holidays, and an early Happy New Year to you all! I sincerely apologize for talking so long to update, but I actually haven't even been on my computer for the past while so I wasn't writing. I was spending time with my family for Christmas, and I was reading, A LOT.**

**I got three John Green books, and a Kindle with gift cards that added up to about 200 dollars for it too! So I've already finished a whole bunch of books and I'm still reading! I hope you guys all had a great Holiday too! Enjoy!**

**I don't own Young Justice.**

* * *

A black honda camry, with the licence plate number "1-M-6-6-7-U", came to a slow stop at it's intended destination.

The man driving the car shut the engine off, and got out of the driver's seat. He looked around, a nervous sweat glistening on his forehead, once he decided that they were definitely alone, even though someone being out here is very unlikely, he closed the car door and headed to the back of the car.

Staring down at the trunk door, the man waited for a moment to see if the boy would start banging again. That had annoyed the man grately, but he had expected it. The same type of thing always happens when they wake up during the ride though. So he didn't have any complaints, after all, he did get out of that situation unscathed. Silently he thanked the fact that most Gothamites are cold hearted and selfish, so none called the police.

Well, maybe that kid standing on the sidewalk near his car, he might've. But it wouldn't matter regardless because the plates he uses on his car are faulty, so no results would show anyway. Another thing that the man is thankful for.

And as the man stared down at the trunk, he couldn't help but feel slightly giddy inside.

The boy he took this time is perfect. He has the same eyes, the same hair, type of build, everything. He's practically the spitting image of what he would look like today. He's everything that the man could ever have wanted when he went searching. Everything that he could want. This one...

This one's perfect.

Those other boys, they hadn't been right. They cried too much. Pleaded for their lives or their release too much. They were far too stubborn as well. Not only that, but far too weak as well. They also didn't look right, they didn't have the right color eyes upon closer inspection. They also weren't fit enough.

You see, he was an avid swimmer. So none of those other boys were as fit as he was. No, he was very fit. Just like the boy in the trunk. Just like the boy in the trunk...

The man could practically see it now. His plan falling into place, and everything going right. Everything.

Then he thought back farther than he wanted. Taking in a breath, and panning the grounds.

Peering over at the small house, the man sighed. Memories flooding back in a torrent, he sighed and blinked them away. All those days were gone, but that doesn't mean that he can't make new days. New memories.

His councilor said the same thing, and he couldn't help but agree. Sure, the woman probably wasn't thinking the same thing he was, is, when she said that, but that doesn't really matter now. Because now he's here, about to start a new again. A whole new life if he wants to. Because this time everything will work out, this time everything will go as it should.

The man then placed his hand lightly on the trunk of the car, and began thinking this through.

Usually the man would just merely open the trunk and knock the boy unconscious again, but something about his shouting... it didn't sound panicked like the others who managed to get the duct tape off their mouths. The shouting sounded hopeful, and controlled. It was like the boy had been prepared for something like this, and that made the man cautious, and so the man wasn't taking any risk. Especially when it comes to something as important as this.

So instead of going through the usual routine, the man standing over the trunk checked to see if it was firmly locked, tugging it slightly seeing that it was firmly in place. He could hear the boy shift in his position, and he could hear him jiggle the door lock with his hands. This just assured the man that the boy had managed to untie himself, somehow.

Letting loose a long overdue sigh, the man walked towards the little house so he could get what would make this smooth, and much easier. Crunching grass beneath his feet, he unlocked the old maple wood door and stepped inside the surprisingly still sound house. Checking all the windows force habit, he clambered through the kitchen cabinets and pulled out a portable tank of nitrous oxide, along with a thin tube to exhale the gas from the tank.

Wheeling the tank out of the moldy kitchen, the man tried to ignore the squeaking and thumping sounds that resonate throughout the house. Cringing at the pure loudness of it, he pulled it finally out of the house and on to the soft quiet grass. Silencing at least some of the noise.

The man then set the tank next to the trunk of his car, and he attached the tube to the tank nozzle. Slipping the tube into a small, almost invisible, hole in the side part of the trunk where a screw is missing, the man let the nitrous oxide flow out of the tank through the tube and into the trunk.

He could hear the stream, and the he heard the boy in the trunk shift. He could probably tell something was wrong, he was most likely feeling the effects of the gas flow over him. The man could hear the boy hitting his hands and feet on the trunk door, but he was not using his voice. The banging grew fainter and fainter with each passing moment, until the boy stopped.

The man concluded that the boy passed out, and he turned off the gas stream. Pulling out the tube, the man rose from his slight crouch and pushed the tank and tube a few feet away from the car so he would have more room to pull the boy out of the trunk.

Taking a breath, the man used his keys to pop open the trunk. Inside revealed the boy, unconscious and lying on his back, mouth slightly agape and eyes lay closed, relaxed and almost peaceful. But the prior struggle he had made was still evident on his hands, they were red and some bruises were forming on his knuckles. The man sighed, and then looked the boy up and down with a fondness.

That was when the man noticed that one of the boy's shoes was missing, the boy must of flung it off in the struggle back in that alley way.

"Shit," the man grumbled under his breath.

He knew that this implied that someone would find it soon enough, and that it would raise at least some questions from someone. But he couldn't worry about that now, after all, someone was bound to come looking for this boy sooner or later anyway so it doesn't really matter right now.

Also, there's no way that anyone was going to find them here. Even though that boy on the side of the street probably called the police. False plates come in handy when it comes to these types of situations.

The man shrugged these thoughts off, and reached down into the trunk of the car picking up the very light fourteen year old.

Adjusting his hands and arms underneath the boy's knees and back, the man used a leg and hip combination to close the trunk door with ease. Striding back over to the house, the man started planning ahead what he was going to do from here on out in his mind. Finding that he grew giddier and giddier just thinking about it, and that the blood that was once pooled in his stomach was now swimming it's way up to his heart, fueling his excitement.

Nudging the door open, the man took his time stepping into the house and going down into the basement. Taking great care in making sure that he stepped lightly, and on the right steps to prevent the floor crumbling beneath him. Because while the man has modernized the basement to fit his needs, the rest of the house was still as crumbley and waterlogged as ever. Some of the stains from coming back from swimming and leaving a wet towels on the floor from his childhood still remained there to this day. It brings both pleasant, and unpleasant memories back. For some of those stains are the cause of the man's childhood, while others are from him.

Biting back a small sob, the man looked down at the boy again and found some relief. Carrying the boy down the rest of the way into the fulling furnished, re-done basement, the man panned the room and then walked through the passages that were made down here for his use.

Getting to the intended room, the man laid the boy down on the blue sheeted and comforted bed. Setting the boy's position just right so he looked relaxed, like he was merely asleep of his free will. Pulling back the covers and covering the boy with the dark blue quilt, the man tucked the boy in tight. But he kept the boy's arms over the blanket, and his head exposed resting on the white fluffed pillow.

The man sighed with satisfaction at his fine work, and he pulled the wrist and ankle straps on the side of the bed exposed. Fastening the boy's thin wrists into the straps along with his ankles after the man took off the boy's one left shoe, he smoothed everything out and brushed the boy's black bangs off of his pale forehead.

The man straightened out, and walked more relaxed over to the door where he shut the lights out in the room. Leaving the boy to his forced slumber.

* * *

It really was a sight for the team as they all stared up at a photo of a one missing Dick Grayson, as Commissioner Gordon briefed them all on the situation.

"Dick Grayson, ward of Bruce Wayne, was found to be kidnapped about one hour ago. We didn't even know he was missing until we got a call about sounds coming from the trunk of someone's car on the road at a stop light from Allen Canten," the Commissioner explained. He gestured over to one of the interrogation rooms in the police station, where you could see a very nervous young man sitting at a table with coffee waiting to be questioned.

"How did he know it was Dick Grayson in the trunk?" Artemis asked, trying to get over the initial shock that the rich kid from her school that took her picture on her first day was actually just her teammate trolling Robin, the Boy Wonder.

"Because Allen over there decided to get pissed and hang up on the police, taking matters into his own hands," Gordon explained. "He apparently went over to the back of the car in the middle of the street, trusting the light to hold out for a bit longer, and he actually talked to the person in the trunk. This person identified as Dick Grayson." Artemis nodded, taking in the information along with the rest of the team.

"Has anyone talked to him about this besides what information has already been acquired over the phone yet?" Kid Flash asked, calming down a bit now and focusing on the task at hand, getting Dick back.

"No, not yet. Mr. Wayne told me to wait for Batman to do the questioning," Gordon said flashing a look over at the bat. "I wasn't expecting however, the Young Justice to be accompanying him, especially without Robin." The team had to keep down their panic at the Commissioner mentioning Robin's absence. But luckily for them, Batman had already planned an excuse for this.

"Robin is out patrolling with Batgirl because of my absence," Batman explained. He had had Barbara go out on patrol, after explaining the situation to her. She had been reluctant at first, wanting to help find Robin, but then she could see how she would be needed out there for now and as an excuse for her father. "But I may call in a few other members of this team." aka Zatanna and/or Rocket.

Commissioner Gordon eyed Batman suspiciously, but didn't put any more thought into it because of his sound logic. He also didn't want to waste his time asking why the bat chose to bring this team of young heroes along with him, he just assumed that this kidnapping would be used as experience for the team, as training.

"Alright, fine by me. I'll leave Dick Grayson's files out, and you," Gordon directed his words to Batman, "can start the questioning for Allen. Just don't give him a heart attack or anything." Gordon left them with that.

Batman sighed, "Team, I would like you to look over Dick Grayson's files while I see what I can find from talking to this Allen Canten," Batman said swiftly, then walked over to the room where he could talk to Allen.

The team took their orders, and went into a separate sound room where they could both look over Dick's files and life while also voicing what they thought about this situation to themselves.

Kid Flash was the last to slip into the enclosed room and he shut the door quietly behind him.

"So," Artemis said as they all settled into the room with files splayed around them, "Dick Grayson, huh?" Artemis asked raising an eyebrow at Kid Flash who already knew prior to this.

"Yep. Billionaire's kid extraordinaire," Kid Flash said while using large hand gestures. Artemis laughed and sighed at the same time.

"But he doesn't seem.. ya know, rich," Artemis said. Kid Flash smirked.

"Yeah, well if you'd read his files then you'd know that he hasn't always been, ya know, rich," Kid Flash said as he took a seat across from Artemis, passing her a file along with everyone else.

"Yeah, well, whatever," Artemis grumbled as she started to thoroughly read through Dick's files.

"Hey, Wa-Kid Flash?" M'gann asked, and Kid Flash looked over at her with a look that told her to 'ask-away'. "Um, who's 'Anthony Zucco'?" Kid Flash froze at her innocent question.

"He's a mob boss in Gotham, and he's also the man who killed Dick's family," Kid Flash said gravely. M'gann's eyes widened along with Superboy and Kaldur, and realization dawned on Artemis.

"Hence, _ward_ of Bruce Wayne I presume?" Artemis asked, and Kid Flash nodded with a heavy heart for his best friend.

"If you read the file it'll tell you the 'report' form of what happened, but I don't think that really does it justice," Kid Flash said. Kaldur looked up from skimming the files at Kid Flash.

"It says here that Dick was present during the time of the murders, does that mean...?" Kaldur inquired, and Kid Flash nodded.

"Yeah, he saw it all happen." M'gann had to force back a strangled gasp, and Artemis looked at her hands for a moment gravely. While Superboy and Kaldur let their minds absorb the information.

"What happened exactly, like, not in 'report form'?" Artemis asked, not wanting to hear about this in a tone that explained it like it was all statistics and events.

"I don't really want to explain that, because I don't think I'd be able to really give you all the information accurately. Like, even Batman didn't think he could tell Dick's backstory without leaving out either important things or really just not giving it enough true feeling," Kid Flash explained, and the team excepted it.

"We'll just let Dick explain then," Artemis said, planting a seed of hope in them all again.

"Yeah, he'll do that, and soon too," Kid Flash confirmed. They accepted this, and went back to the files. Aka, the hard copies of Richard John Grayson's over all depressing life.

* * *

Batman opened the door to the "questioning" room where Allen Canten was waiting to be questioned.

Allen could leave anytime he wanted to, but apparently he told the police that he wanted to be able to help in anyway possible.

"Mr. Canten," Batman said, using one of his calmer, gentler Batman voices as not to, as Jim Gordon said, "give him a heart attack or anything."

Allen looked up in surprise and he tensed seeing Batman standing in such close proximity to him. "Uh, hi, Mr. B-Batman sir," Allen stammered.

"It's alright, I was just recruited by Bruce Wayne to work his ward's case. That includes getting all the information I can from you about what happened," Batman said calmly, sitting down across from Allen as to make him feel more comfortable, not having the Batman towering over him.

"Oh, okay," Allen said in relief. He adjusted both his hands around his coffee, and his posture in his chair.

"I'd like you to tell me exactly what happened from the moment you noticed the banging from the trunk, to when the light changed and the car sped away," Batman said. Allen nodded, and decided not to ask how he knew so much already. He just went with the assumption, _He's Batman, of course he knows what's going on already!_

"Right," Allen said, then continuing with his entire tale from walking home from the supermarket, to standing in the middle of the street talking to the police again.

Explaining this all took a good ten minutes, and Batman listened intently, knowing what was at stake here.

"Then I just sorta stood in the middle of the street for a good two minutes before I realized that this guy was shouting at me that he would run me over if I didn't get out of the road," Allen finished. Batman nodded, and mulled things over in his head.

"You said the man was looking at you, so you saw him," Batman pointed out, and Allen nodded.

"Yeah, he was being super creepy. But I guess that's understandable considering," Allen said.

"Can you describe him for me," Batman asked. Allen nodded frantically.

"Uh, yeah, of course. He had, like, black hair and really blue eyes," Allen started off, and Batman could feel something settle in his stomach. So far what Allen had described sounded a lot like Dick, or someone that could practically be related to Dick. "He was white, by the way, and he was, like, my height from what I could see. He was wearing a black long sleeve shirt, and jeans. Probably 'cause it's cold out right now," Allen elaborated. Batman nodded, making a mental image of whom Allen was describing.

"Were there any defining marks on his face, or just anything about his looks that could be used to identify him clearly?" Batman asked, hoping that something about this man could be easily identified besides the black hair and blue eyes.

"Um, I'm not too sure..." Allen racked his memory of the man for something defining, then he looked like he was struck unexpectedly in the face. "There was a scar on his cheek, it ran from his temple to his chin," Allen said, feeling proud he noticed and remembered that.

Batman nodded, glad that this was something they could really go on. "Great, there'll be a sketch artist in here later for you to describe him again," Batman said, and Allen nodded.

"Anything else?" Allen asked, wanting to know if he was needed right now or if he could go call his roommate Eric to tell him what's happened.

"Although you probably already told the police this, what kind of car did he drive?" Batman asked.

"Uh, it was a black honda camry. It didn't look new, but it didn't look old either. So it's year was probably, like, twenty ten or something. Maybe two thousand nine," Allen said, and Batman nodded again.

"Thank you, and for right now you can make any calls you want before the sketch artist comes," Batman said as he rose from his seat. Allen rose too, and he nodded as Batman left the room.

Allen sighed, looking down at his now empty coffee cup, and he made his way out of the room so he could call Eric. An officer came and began leading Allen to the phones.

Allen looked around at the station, and he tossed his coffee cup into a trash can on the way to the phones. The officer stopped, and Allen went to one of the phones and dialed his apartments phone number.

_"Hello?" _He heard Eric's voice come over the line.

"Dude, it's Allen," Allen said to Eric, and he heard Eric shift over the line and sigh rather loudly.

_"Dude! You scared the crap out of me, where the hell are you? When you didn't come back from the store I thought you finally got hit by a car while crossing the street or something!"_ Eric exclaimed. Allen laughed and sighed.

"I'm fine dude. But I'm kinda at Gotham City Police Department right now," Allen explained.

_"What? What're you doing there?"_ Eric asked.

"Want me to tell you the whole story over the phone, or...?"

_"You're right, tell me it when you come back to the apartment. Wait, when will you be back?"_

"I'll be back in probably, like, an hour or two considering I've gotta talk to a sketch artist."

_"A sketch artist? Why?"_

"I thought you wanted me to explain this when I got back."

_"...Fine. But I'll want every detail about what's going on. See you in a while I guess."_

"Yep, bye."

_"Bye."_

Allen heard Eric hang up, and so did he. Allen sighed and looked over at the officer.

"I'm done now," Allen said, and the officer nodded.

"The sketch artist it probably ready by now, follow me," the officer said casually, leading Allen back into another "questioning room".

Allen sat down at the table, and sighed deeply. The sketch artist came in and Allen described the man's face to the fullest. When it was all done the drawing actually looked almost exactly like the man that was driving the car. Allen nodded in approval and then Commissioner Gordon came into the room to look at the sketch.

"You guys done?" he asked, the artist nodded along with Allen and showed the Commissioner the final product.

Gordon took the sketch, then his eyes widened in recognition. The kind of recognition that's good for the case, but not for a certain divorced woman in Rhode Island.

* * *

**Oh dear, and the plot thickens! I hope you liked this chapter, and don't criticize me if you can't fill an area with nitrous oxide to safely knock someone out because that was the only good enough transportable gas I could find to knock a person unconscious.**

**Let's just see now if I can be more responsible for updating the next chapter, and a late Merry Whatever-it-is-you-celebrate, and an early Happy New Years!**

**As always, REVIEW!**


	6. Chapter 6

**It turns out I'm incapable of quick updating and writing.**

**I will warn you that this chapter was very forced writing for me, nothing came out smoothly. And some parts are unbelievingly sarcastic. I hope that this chapter can at least do something to make you guys not totally hate me. Ugh, writing hasn't been kind to me as of late.**

**I don't own Young Justice.**

* * *

Jim Gordon handed the pad of paper with the sketch of the perp back to the artist. He sighed and rubbed his eyes for a moment with his hands, then he dismissed himself from the room.

He knew that man, the one that the witness described and had the artist draw. And he certainly remembered his wife.

Margaret Katherine. Jim remembers her from his days back as just a half-ass cop on the streets of Gotham. He met her and her husband only a couple of times, but he would never forget. Never.

Jim found himself wandering back to his office, promptly sitting himself down at his desk absorbing all this information. He knew that he'd have to tell someone that he knew who the man was, and that he'd have to tell Margaret this. Even though her and her husband got divorced more than a year ago, he knew it would still shake her deeply. To know that her ex-husband was a kidnapper.

Jim scored his desk for the key to one of his file cabinets, the certain cabinet that happened to have Margaret's son's case file in it. The key's small but noticeable because of it's polished silver color. Jim brushed his hands over the desk and came up with just that key.

Rushing over to the cabinet, Jim opened it and began sorting through the files with his fingers and eyes. Then he saw the file, bold letters on the file tab.

_Katherine, Nathan._

Jim pulled out the file carefully as to not disturb the other files, and he went back to his desk.

Opening the file and laying out everything on his desk, his eyes ran over the photos and the reports on the case. The reports all stated the same general thing,

_Homicide._

The reports talked about how on the day of April 13th, they got a call from a frantic Margaret Katherine that her thirteen year old son had gone missing. The police went to her and her husband's house to question her and see what they could do. These officers included Jim Gordon. Jim questioned Margaret while his partner, Harris Downs, questioned the husband.

Jim learned from Margaret that the last time they saw their son Nathan, he was walking out to the bus to go to school. They sent him out at the regular time, he got on the bus and the school never called them telling them that he didn't make it to school. So he obviously got to school and stayed there for the duration of the day. So they should have had nothing to worry about. But for some reason unknown, Nathan did not get off the bus that afternoon.

At first the couple thought that Nathan might have had an after school event going on, and that he just merely forgot to inform them. But when they called his phone, Nathan did not pick up. So they called the school, and they told them that Nathan left the school with the other children. But no one could say that they saw Nathan get on the bus, or that he was even near the buses at the end of the day.

That was when she and her husband decided to call the police. Although the police could not file a missing report yet until forty eight hours in, they knew that whatever was going on it couldn't be good. Because based on everything they could find about Nathan, he wasn't the type to run away or talk to strangers.

So after Jim interviewed Margaret, he talked to his partner. Harris said that the husband said pretty much the same thing, practically word for word. To say that this couple was in sync with one another would be an understatement.

The department continued the investigation for about a week after that, with both Jim and Harris on the job. They found Nathan's dead body in a ditch. From the coroner's report, they found that he was shot to death. Even though that was evident from just looking at the body, it was still confirmed.

Margaret and her husband had been devastated after all of this. The police concluded that Nathan was just a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. From all the evidence compiled, they found that Nathan had just been caught in crossfire near the school while walking home after missing the bus. He was walking through gang related territory, and they were having a shot out. One of them probably just decided that they should dump him real quick in order not to be questioned by the police.

Margaret accepted this cruel reality, and fell into a depressed state, But her husband... he would accept that his son was killed with such apathy and under such easily excusable circumstances. He went into a pit of rage, and eventually Margaret filed for divorce.

She eventually moved to Rhode Island after winning a legal battle, taking everything from her ex-husband. And to this day the members of GCPD have no idea where the ex-husband went after losing everything to Margaret. No one ever even bothered asking.

But now it's important.

Because the man that the sketch artist drew based on the witness's description, is Margaret Katherine's ex-husband. So now they need to know where he would go, because he most likely took Dick Grayson there with him.

Jim sighed again deeply after re-thinking through everything, and sorting out both his emotions and thoughts, Jim stood up from his seat at his desk and began heading back to where the Batman would be along with the Young Justice.

Jim could already see the Dark Knight looming over files and papers, along with the new sketch of the man they were looking for. He sighed deeply again, he seemed to be doing that a lot lately, and he walked over to him.

"Batman," Jim addressed him, Batman looked over at him and gave him a look that told him to go on. "Um, it's about the man the sketch artist drew from our witness's description."

"What about him?" Batman asked, feeling the suspicion growing in his stomach.

Gordon shifted, "I know him. I know who he is." Jim could swear he saw Batman's eye twitch ever so slightly.

"Who is he then." This was not a question, and it never would be. Gordon gulped a bit, and sighed knowing his place and his duty.

"His name is Jason Katherine. I was on his son's case a while back," Gordon explained. Batman nodded curtly, then glided to the computers. He typed up the name and pulled out the file. The man looked almost exactly like the sketch, the same scar running down his face.

Batman's eyes scanned over what they had on this man. "He has had nothing on his record since you worked his son's homicide case." Gordon visibly flinched at the word 'homicide' because of the images of Margaret's devastated face. "It says here that he's just been living in an apartment in Gotham ever since his and his wife's divorce."

Jim nodded. "So, what're we going to do?" he asked carefully. Batman turned to face him, a determined look in his eye.

"I'll go to the man's apartment, while you and a section of the team will talk to his wife. The rest them will find out as much as they can about 'Jason Katherine.'" Jim nodded, and had to swallow his words about having him go to talk to the wife. He didn't want to ask to do something else from Batman right now. The look of hatred in his eyes when he looked at the photo of the man who took Dick was something Jim had never seen in his entire life. It was like the pain of a...

_Father?_

"Alright, sounds good. Should I get the Young Justice or-" Gordon began, only being cut off by Batman.

"I'll get them and explain the situation." Gordon nodded again, but Batman just swept past him to where the team were. Jim sighed again, for what felt like the thousandth time. He knew that this was not going to be a good reunion with Margaret Katherine.

* * *

"Team." Batman appeared in the room where they had been going over everything on Dick. They were filled with the depression of their seemingly peppy friend's past, and they weren't quite up for life just yet.

But the urgency in Batman's voice broke them out of their stupor, and they all sent their attentions to him.

"We know who the man is who took Dick," Batman said. Everyone sat straight up in their chairs, their posture returning along with the life in their eyes.

"Really?!" Kid Flash shouted, the excitement in his voice evident. Batman nodded curtly. "What's the plan then?"

"I'm going to go to the man's, whose name is Jason Katherine, current apartment to investigate. While M'gann and Artemis will go with Commissioner Gordon to the ex-wife, Margaret Katherine's, house. The rest of you will find out as much about Jason Katherine as possible." They accepted their new jobs with vigor, then went to work.

Kid Flash, Kaldur, and Superboy immediately followed the rest of them out and went to the computers where Batman had left search engines up for them to use to find out as much about Jason Katherine as possible. They needed every bit of information as possible, even if it was just the fact that Jason once owned a cat named Fluffy.

For all they know, anything can be important.

While M'gann and Artemis followed Batman to where the Commissioner was standing. He looked nervous and shifty to them, but they weren't really concerned with that right now. They just wanted to find Dick.

"Commissioner, Miss Martian and Artemis will be accompanying you to Margaret Katherine's house. They are coming with you to help, and to work this case alongside you, so don't brush them aside," Batman warned, knowing full well that Gordon didn't even want Batman here in the first place.

"Of course," Gordon said stiffly, feeling the underlying meaning though the tone in Batman's voice.

Batman nodded, then swept away, cape whipping out behind him.

"Alright. Shall we go?" Artemis asked using a gesture of her hand, displaying her antsy-ness to get going.

"Right," Gordon said snapping out of a haze. He began heading outside when M'gann stepped in front of him, leading Artemis, and now him, to the bio-ship. Gordon didn't know this though, but he didn't want to point out her "rudeness" for stepping out in front of him like that. He just assumed it was a martian thing.

Until, of course, seeing the bio-ship she had lead them to.

"We're going in that?" Jim asked, slightly unsure whether or not he wanted to get into that alien ship. M'gann just turned and nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep. Isn't she beautiful?" M'gann asked, expecting an answer.

"Huh?- oh, yeah, it- _she's_ beautiful," Gordon stuttered. M'gann smiled, seemingly pleased with the answer, while Artemis rolled her eyes.

M'gann had the ship lower the dock, and both her and Artemis glided in with pure comfort. On the flipside, Gordon walked in quite hesitantly. Absorbing the structure around him, he saw all that the ship had to offer. Then seeing how M'gann sat to steer the ship, and Artemis sat in a random chair. So Gordon decided to sit too.

He was surprised to find no seat belt or strap of any kind. That was until straps of sorts grew out of the seat itself and buckled him in. He saw it did the same to Artemis and M'gann.

Without further warning, they took off.

* * *

Richard John Grayson, both as Robin and as his billionaire's ward status, has woken up in some of the weirdest places anyone can imagine.

But this one was by far the strangest.

Managing to lift his heavy eyelids open, Dick could see a whole lot of blue. Navy blue mostly, some vibrant blue, even a little light blue too.

The walls were painted the navy blue color, and the carpeting that covered the floor was the vibrant blue. The light blue he saw was just the color of the lampshade for the lamp sitting on the small bedside table next to where he lay.

Dick turned his head again, panning the room. It looked like any other bedroom he'd seen, a dresser, desk, bedside table, a light, and a bookshelf. Oh, and of course the obvious bed that he was laying on.

Dick went to sit up and move, but he found himself just pulling meaninglessly against restraints keeping him lying flat on the blue bed. '_Whoever's room this is, they must really like blue_' Dick thought to himself. Then again, who doesn't like blue at least just a little bit?

Dick set himself back on track and looked down at the restraints, seeing that they looked like the typical hospital restraints you'd see for someone either insane or someone who merely has a lot of fight in them against needles.

DIck sighed and rested his head back against the pillow (which surprisingly was not blue). He looked around again, spotting the oak door leading out of the room. Dick could assume that it's locked from the outside, and that there are most likely many different types of locks keeping him here as well.

Back to that thought. Why was he strapped to a bed in the "tucked in" position in what looked like a child's bedroom? He surely never thought he'd ever have to think something like that. And that just brings up another question. One that he'd already repeated many times.

_'What does this man want with me?'_

Good question. Because the more you think it the more likely the answer will come flying at you and hit you in the face. Also the more likely it won't just become an overused topic that no longer needs too much thought or description.

Dick sighed heavily, and clicked his tongue trying to think of what he should do next. Because no matter who you're trained by, or how much training you received, this was just one of those situations that one could not simply get out of through skill.

Basically, he'd just have to get lucky.

_Because your luck is just oh so great. Isn't that right?_

Well kind of. All things considered. I mean, really. What're the odds that some good sammarit will just happen to her you banging for help inside a trunk of a car, on a really long red light, and that person will just be able to get a really good look at the guy who kidnapped you, so he can describe him later to the police?

_I swear, you're just being showered with good graces all things considered._

Dick made a half sigh half groan sound, and decided that the best thing to do now was wait.

_Wait for what?_

Either for someone to come and help, or for the person who put you here.

"Just shut, _up_...!" Dick said to himself in exasperation. But upon hearing the too familiar sounds of locks clicking open, Dick held his breath, craning his neck so he could see the door, all while trying to sit up a bit.

The door creaked open after the clicking ceased into an eerie silence.

A black haired man with blue eyes, in his perhaps mid forties, peeked through the door seeing Dick wide eyed and very much awake. The man stepped in all the way and shut the door softly behind him. He was still wearing the black long sleeve shirt and jeans, but now he didn't have shoes on; just plain white socks. He obviously was very comfortable with this situation. That was... disturbing to say the least.

"I'm glad you're awake, I was starting to worry," the man said with a unnerving kindness. He spoke like a worried father talking to their child. The man then approached the bed with a little less caution, Dick held his tongue for the time being as to not stir anything unwanted. The man only took this as a sort of acceptance of the situation and sat down on the bed, causing Dick to instinctively scootch away from him.

The man chuckled a bit and gave a sort of semi-awkward smile. "It's alright, really. Everything is going to be okay, Nathan."

And at the sound of someone elses name, Dick felt a true pang of terror shot through him.

If this man was trying to recreate someone by using Dick, someone probably long dead, there was no way in hell Dick would be able to get any solid answers out of this man. And all of this just raised more questions, like what would he do with him if he was using him to revive this so called 'Nathan'? Who was Nathan really? And, how oh how would he ever get out of this one.

So, Dick decided he needed to bring this man back to reality. Because Batman always said never to give into a villain's fantasies, or play a villain's game unless no other options presented themselves.

"My name is not Nathan. My name's Richard, Richard John Grayson," Dick stated plainly and with confidence.

But the man just laughed. "Oh, don't be silly Nathan. I think I'd know if you were actually the ward of Bruce Wayne."

So this man is aware of Richard John Grayson, his status, as well as Bruce Wayne, but not that he was_ him._ "No, I'm Richard. My friends and family call me Dick, and you kidnapped me and brought me here for some reason; what is your reason?" Dick stated again firmly, then deciding to try and get some answers while shattering this man's delusion. But the man just frowned.

"I think you may be sick, saying things like this..." the man mumbled. Dick sighed internally, then reminded himself of his bindings.

"If that were true, then why am I bound to the bed?" Dick asked smartly, showing the man his cuffs to the bed. He was hoping that showing the man this, if he was far enough into his delusion, he'd unbind man's eyes flickered to the bindings, and something in his presence changed. His eye's visibly darkened.

"Of course, we wouldn't want you to get away, now would we?" he asked. "I've spent so much time planning this you should know. All of those other boy's were too this, or too that, but _you_. Well, you're just _spot on_." Dick sunk back into the bed, wanting to melt into the mattress then into the floor.

So he was aware of what he was doing, and that he wasn't Nathan. Well, some of the time.

"Who's Nathan, might I ask?" Dick asked, trying to keep this going. He needed to talk to the kidnapper, not the person who thought he was 'Nathan'.

"You are, of course!" And we're back to this again. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked with the concerned father like tone again. Dick wanted to yell at the man, but he knows that right now he not only doesn't have any control but this man is obviously troubled and delusional. Dick swallowed and decided to use this man's current state as an advantage.

"Who do you think I am?" Dick asked, and the man raised an eyebrow.

"Nathan of course, like I've said," the man responded. Dick nodded, knowing this already.

"Yes but, _who_ do you think I am?" Dick reiterated the best he could.

"Nathan Katherine, my son," the man said hesitantly as if Dick would say he was wrong. Dick nodded, so it was this man's son that Dick was replacing. It makes sense, a grueling and strangely depressing sense.

"Oh," Dick uttered, the man shifted then smiled.

"It's going to be all right. You have nothing to worry about, isn't that right, Nathan?" the man said with a poison in his tone. His eyes glinting with hysteria, calm, and something that screamed slaughter that Dick had only seen in reports of murderers and those under the Joker. But he was not yet Joker crazy, which is good for Dick because he's been able to survive the Joker many-a-time, so this guy should be easy enough. Yet, that was Robin, this is Dick. Hopefully the similarities will out way the differences in this instance.

"Right," Dick said calmly, making fear slip into his eyes to hold up some sort of facade for Dick Grayson, the fear that he would feel during a kidnapping. So for now, Dick would play along with this man's delusion. But he would never give in, that would not only be weak, but worthy of any punishment dished out afterwards.

The man smiled, half delusion, half kidnapping serial killer. "That's good. I'll be back soon with something for you to eat, then we can begin, okay?" _Begin what?_, Dick thought, but he didn't get a word in. "Okay."

The man smirked, and got off the bed leaving the room. Dick let his muscles go slack against the bed, not realizing just how tense he was during that little encounter. Or how much he really felt fear. It must have been something in the air, something in the situation.

Dick now knew for sure that there were others before him, others there to replace this man's son. Nathan. But what had happened to those others? He'd obviously killed them, that was certain. That was unnerving and plain. But what had he done in the mean time? Before he'd decided they weren't good enough to replace Nathan, before he'd killed them. What would he do to Dick now? Would he mould Dick into Nathan, even though it would never work? Or would he do something of the non expect? Dick has a feeling that he'll only know when the time comes.

* * *

**Ugh. That was soooooo forced, soooo sarcastic in some places and soooooo not okay for me to be giving you after soooooo long of no updates as a chapter.**

**I wish I could have done better with this and that I could have figured this out faster than I did. I literally wrote about three sentences a day for this entire chapter because of how bad my writers block was and how unplanned all of this was. I really didn't know what to do and I'm surprised that I managed to write this at all.**

**I guess we'll have to see about next time, won't we? Because I will never give up on a story! That I can guarantee. So, Review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here we are once again! YAY! Writers block gone (finally) and this is the longest chapter yet maxing out at about 4,500 words! While previous longest chapter maxed out at about 3,800 words. I hope that this chapter does you well, explaining some things that are very important for future reasons too.**

**Oh! And I'd just like to thank everyone who reviewed for the last chapter, it really helped me get out of my writing funk and I'm really grateful. Your reviews always make my day brighter! So, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**I don't own Young Justice.**

* * *

Jim peered out the front window in the bio-ship, still contemplating how quiet the ship was despite going at such speeds over this long a distance. He took a breath, and sat back in his chair going over in his head what exactly he was going to say to Margaret once they got to her house.

He knew that this confrontation was going to be both awkward, and full of tears once she heard of her ex-husband's recent "activities". Not only this but he would also have to question her, and he's already done that before. Doing it again will be so much harder, because now instead of asking about her now dead son he has to ask about her ex-husband. Who will be sent to prison for the duration of his life after they catch him, as if the family she had created wasn't broken enough already.

Jim sighed deeply and sunk back into his chair a little further. All he really wanted to do was melt into this chair and disappear until after this whole debacle was over. Because really, who wanted to go and talk to someone they hoped they had completely eradicated from their life? Most certainly not Jim Gordon, but I guess that's just the way things go.

"So, what's your connection to Margaret Katherine?" Artemis asked all of the sudden, startling Jim out of his stupor. He sat up in his chair, and looked to the blonde. She was looking at him expectantly, resting her head on one hand. Jim shifted more.

"What makes you think I have a connection to her?" Jim questioned, regaining his composure. Artemis scoffed and sat up a bit straighter as well.

"What is there to make me think that you _don't_ have a connection to her?" Artemis quipped back, and Jim furrowed his brow. "I mean," she continued, "you've been reluctant about going to question Margaret this entire time, and you've had a deep-in-thought look on your face for the past twenty minutes."

Jim sighed, "I guess I have, haven't I?" he said warily. He then rubbed his face with his hands for a moment, and looked back up at Artemis, his look stern. "I've questioned her before, when I was first starting out as a cop. I was on the case for her and her husband's missing son." Artemis sat up more, and nodded.

"Did you find the son?" Artemis asked, and Jim shook his head.

"No, well, yes we did. But by 'found him', I mean his dead body." Artemis nodded grimly. "I had to deliver the news to both her and her husband. And after that they got divorced because the husband, Jason, was going out of his mind and becoming violent because of his son's murder. He wouldn't accept that the way Nathan died was how he died! He would ramble on and on about how their must have been some deeper meaning or underground plot to kill his son, to take him away from him. It was like he thought someone was trying to get back at him for something or another," Jim explained. Artemis took a breath and licked her dry lips.

"How was Nathan killed then? Really?" Artemis asked, picking up the fact that Nathan was the son.

"He was caught in gang crossfire. Then one of the guys, probably the one who shot him, realized that he had to do something with the body as not to go to prison. So, he dumped Nathan in a ditch off a highway," Gordon explained.

"Which gangs do you think were having a shot out?" Artemis asked, knowing several of the gangs in Gotham.

"Judging by the territory area he was caught walking through, I'd say the Kronos's and the League of Smiles **(1)**."

Artemis frowned. "That doesn't sound like something the League of Smiles would be caught up in. They are a Joker worshiping gang after all, one of many, so those kinds like to get up close and personal with their kills. The Kronos's I can see being in a shootout with some other gang, but the League of Smiles? Really?" Artemis proposed. Jim furrowed his eyebrows, leaving a distinct crease in his forehead.

"What are you getting at?" Gordon asked.

"Just that maybe Jason's fears weren't completely unfounded," Artemis concluded. Jim frowned.

"Are you saying that you agree with him?" Jim asked, and Artemis shook her head.

"No, of course not. I hate this man to the depths of the Earth for all he's done and will do, and I will never **agree** with anything he says or does," Artemis said coldly. "I'm just saying that maybe you guys overlooked something in this case, and that Jason didn't. Maybe there's more to this than we think." Gordon's mind began going over everything from that case once again, unable to believe that he and the rest of the force had overlooked something. But before he could get into too much thought on that part, he felt the ship begin landing.

"We're here!" M'gann called out, a little louder and peppier than necessary. Artemis swung her body back into position, and so did Gordon.

The bio-ship landed steadily, and with little shock. Jim nodded in approval in his head at the device, or at her as Miss Martian would say. The bio-ship's engines powered down, and M'gann smiled brightly, unlatching herself, Artemis, and Jim from their chairs. She opened the bay door cleanly, and they found themselves looking out at the back of a nice bright green house in Rhode Island.

M'gann lead the way out, camouflaging the bio-ship behind her. Jim sighed quite loudly and both Artemis and M'gann looked at him.

"We should probably go around front to knock, and I should be the one to do it, since she knows me," Gordon stated, the girls nodded in agreement and let him lead the way. They walked around the rather large house, and stepped up and onto the porch.

Jim knocked on the front door.

They stood there for a mere moment or two before and brunette and brown eyed woman opened the door, a slight smile on her face. But that went away when she realized who Jim was.

"Jim...? Jim Gordon?" she said carefully, taking in his older features, than and only then noticing the two teen superheroines standing behind him. "Uh..."

"Hi Margaret, I'm surprised you remember me." Jim smiled, making Margaret only slightly more comfortable. She then opened the door completely and stepped out onto the porch with them.

"What's this about, Jim? And why are they...?" She motioned to Artemis and Miss Martian, and they both just smiled awkwardly.

"Yeah, sorry about the seemingly random visit. These young ladies are Artemis, Green Arrow's partner, and Miss Martian, Martian Manhunter's niece," Jim explained. Margaret sighed, then smiled at the girls.

"Hi, sorry about that, I'm Margaret," She introduced herself to Artemis and M'gann, shaking each of their hands with a smile. "So," she spun to Jim, "what's this 'seemingly random' visit about? Key word,_ seemingly_," Jim sighed with an ominous atmosphere.

"We have to ask you a few questions," Jim started, and Margaret didn't like where this was going, "a few questions about your ex-husband, Jason," Jim finished carefully.

Margaret's eyes widened in fear, then sunk into sickness and disappointment, for what they would never know.

"Alright, come inside." She lead them inside her spacious home. Open rooms everywhere you turned, the walls painted her favorite color; green. Most everything was green actually, she must really like green... There were high ceilings, and high blown glass windows. She was obviously doing very well for herself.

She lead them into what they could assume was the living room. A flat screen mounted on the far wall adjacent to the dark brown leather couch, and two brown leather chairs on either side. A well crafted oak coffee table in between the TV and the couch, and right next to the room, connected, the kitchen.

"Nice house," Artemis mumbled, a little jealous, yet not really.

"Thanks," Margaret said, and Artemis felt a little awkward, she was not expecting her to hear that.

"Sit," Margaret said, motioning to the brown chairs and couch. Both M'gann and Artemis sat in each of the two chairs, leaving Margaret and Jim the couch. Jim sat cautiously on one end of the couch, Margaret on the other. They all faced her, and she stiffened slightly.

"So, what did Jason do now?" Margaret asked, getting to the point. She was always very blunt, Jim thought to himself. He noticed the 'now' but he brushed it off, assuming that she was referring to the divorce. He sighed.

"I'm sorry that I always have to be the bearer of bad news for you," Jim said with regret in his tone.

"Yeah, well, it's your job. Not your fault my life is screwed to hell," she mumbled the last part, but Jim heard it. He ignored it.

"Well, since I might as well get down to the point, we've just all but confirmed that Jason has kidnapped someone. A thirteen year old boy, about a hundred pounds, black hair and blue eyes," Gordon described, skipping all the avoiding cop stuff. And this news hit her.

Hard.

You could see her fighting back tears, yet they still leaked from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. "That sounds exactly like..._ Nathan_..." she said slowly and carefully, comprehending what was happening.

"And we're not sure, but we don't think that this boy's the first one," Gordon furthered. She let her head fall into her hands, her fingernails were painted a navy blue.

"I can't believe this, he couldn't, he wouldn't, not even him..." she stuttered. Jim wanted to scootch over and hug her, but he knew he couldn't do that.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. M'gann and Artemis were sitting awkwardly, so M'gann spoke up.

"Miss Katherine?" M'gann asked, and Margaret looked up a little confused, but M'gann continued, "I want you to know that this isn't your fault, all that's happened is cruel but it's just the way things went. There is nothing you could've, or can do about it. I really wish that we could've done something to prevent everything earlier, but we're here now. So, can you answer our questions so we can fix this?" Margaret's eyes dried, and she was a little shell shocked. But she brushed it off.

"Of course, thank you," she said, calm flooding over her. M'gann smiled and nodded. "Oh, and it's not Miss Katherine. If you must say 'miss' then say Miss Silus. That's my maiden name. I changed it back after I divorced... Jason," Margaret said, stumbling over her ex-husband's name. The man she once loved, now turned so evil by something. Most likely grief. "But please, call me Margaret."

"Alright." M'gann smiled brightly. "Then call me M'gann." Margaret smiled and took a breath.

"Sounds like a deal."

* * *

Jason Katherine was always a nice man, a normal man. Nothing to hide, nothing to suspect. The only thing abstract about Jason Katherine was his blue eyes and black hair combo.

Throughout his entire life he was just the average kid, blending in with the crowd of students, getting As and Bs in all of his classes. He was the kind of kid that if someone was passing out papers back they would have to ask for where he was, because they wouldn't know based on the name on the paper. So normal, so boring in fact, that he didn't have many friends. The only friends he ever had when he was a kid were his cousins and his two-years-younger neighbors.

Jason's parents were concerned that he was antisocial or that they had done something wrong to make him never want to talk to any of the kids in his grade. But honestly, there was nothing they could possibly do about it, it was just how he was.

He didn't really have any emotions towards any of his classmates, good or bad. He didn't hate anyone, he didn't like anyone either. He was just sort of... neutral. The same went for his teachers. Even his family, the only difference was that with his family he felt more... what's the word... _protective_ for them. If someone made either of his parents upset, he'd think about how he could get revenge for them against whoever all day long.

He'd think about how he could find those people, catch them alone, off guard, or in their house, then he could just smash them over the head with his dad's stainless steel hammer. Perfect, foolproof.

But he'd never do something like that. His dark pleasure. Really the only thing that he felt something genuine and real towards. Killing. Murder. Death. Decay. All his favorite morbid things.

In fact, when he was merely eight, he tried to get revenge on one of the neighbor kids for calling him a freak. But that didn't work out to well for him. Sufficed to say, he got a long scar down his face as a reminder of that day.

And then when he was ten, the beginning of the new school year, his teacher had decided that she wanted to "learn more about each of them individually". He thought this was kind of dumb, but he really didn't care, the teacher was just doing her job he concluded.

So his teacher, Mrs. Peterson, passed out them each a little "All About Me" sheet of paper. It had questions about them ranging from _How old are you?_ to_ Do you have any hobbies?_

Oh, he had many hobbies, they mostly included going out into the woods with his dad's hammer and killing squirrels and other little animals, then keeping the bones, or one of the bones for his collection. But he also liked to draw. He'd spend all day drawing his plans out.

So, he got his paper, and the teacher said they could start, and that she couldn't wait to learn more about them.

_ALL ABOUT ME._

_What's your name?_ Jason Katherine

_How old are you?_ I'm ten

_When's your birthday?_ May twenty sixth

_How many pets do you have?_ We used to have a cat. She's dead now

_What's your favorite movie and/or TV show?_ I don't watch tv

_What's your favorite food?_ Food is food can I have a favorite?

_What's your favorite color?_ I like red

_Do you have any hobbies?_ I like to go into the woods behind my house and play with the animals, the squirrels are my favorite, there bones are tiny and nice .

_What do you like about your friends?_ I don't have friends, I only have my neybors and my cousins. They don't really like me though, they tell me that I'm weird, there mean .

_What are five of your favorite things?_ I don't think I have five favorite things, I like my dad's hammer though, and playing with the squirrels. They don't like the hammer .

_Anything you want me to know about you?_ No .

Mrs. Peterson had been disturbed to say the least.

Jason had done sheets of paper like this one before in younger grades, but most of the time he was vague. But this year Mrs. Peterson told the class that this was really important and that they were getting a grade on it, so he had to answer completely honestly. Mrs. Peterson must not have liked his honesty then.

She had called for a meeting with his parents, and showed them the paper. His father had been appalled about the bit with the hammer, and his mother had nearly fainted from the implications of his answers. Especially the one's about the squirrels.

Oh where oh where could they have gone wrong?

They would ask themselves this question repeatedly for the next few days to come. But they eventually decided that he should see a doctor.

They showed the doctor the paper, and the doctor talked to Jason about things. Lots and lots of things and questions. Jason didn't mind too terribly.

Eventually the doctor told his parents that he should see a therapist, and a psychiatrist for Jason to work out his... unique issues. They had agreed and gotten him the best therapist in the country, along with the best psychiatrist. Things went well all in all, and Jason got better.

He grew up rather normally after that. Not anymore social, but he was better with people, and he no longer took trips into the forest to "play" with the squirrels. Even all weapons in his house were locked away. But Jason hardly noticed.

He then went on through high school and he went to college to become an architect. He did so. He learned a lot about a lot of things. He even took a course on the human body and different medical tips and tricks. He was very good at dissecting things cleanly.

But after all of this, he met Margaret Silus. Margaret was just intended to be a friend at first in Jason's mind, but then he told his mother about her and she told him to make a move. That he "wouldn't be young forever". So, he asked her out, and then eventually she became apart of the family.

And we all know how protective he feels over his family.

Then they had their son, Nathan, about two years after they got married. And life was good.

Then Nathan was murdered. Margaret was in deep grief, and she was mourning the loss of her only son to being merely caught in crossfire. Jason couldn't stand for that. There was just no way that Nathan could have been caught out in that gang territory, he never would've walked out there by himself. There had to be more to this. He knew there had to be more.

He went scouring for information, everywhere he could. Trying to figure out what really happened to his son that day. He was growing crazier with every minute gone by. He would react violently towards Margaret when she tried to help, and eventually she couldn't take it anymore.

She left him.

She took everything.

But Jason couldn't find it in him to be mad. He deserved everything he got. So he stayed in Gotham, and he went back to his search, trying everything he could. He needed to get revenge for Nathan's death. He needed to do something. He needed Nathan back.

He needed Nathan back.

Because if Nathan never died, then he wouldn't have to worry about any of this. Like how his therapist used to always talk about how revenge was never worth it. So he had implanted that thought into his head, that was what made him stop scheming against the people who upset his parents. But over the years that rule was forgotten, but it was back. So he embraced it. But he still needed Nathan back. Because if Nathan was back, then everything would be fine again. Life would be in balance again. Everything would be right.

Then the urge came back.

All of this stress made that oh-so-familiar urge to go out into the woods to smash in skulls, and watch the life leave those little creatures eyes was back. He could feel it pounding in his head, waiting to be released. And Jason knew that the only way to make the pounding go away, to open the floodgates in his mind, would be to kill something.

_Or someone._

But he had to focus on Nathan. He needed a new Nathan, since the original was now rotting six feet underground. So, Jason started his search for the perfect Nathan. Starting with Nathan's blue eyes and black hair. Then going down to Nathan's light frame. Then Nathan's semi-muscular build from all of the swimming he used to do. Every. last. detail.

So he built an exact replica of Nathan's room in the basement of his old summer cabin, which was in the middle of considerable no-where. This was the perfect place to keep someone, anyone.

The first boy he took was a fourteen year old street kid.

He had the blue eyes and the black hair, but he was taller than Nathan. Same type of frame, sure. But_ taller._ Leaner. Less toned.

Also Jason's kidnapping job was sloppy at best. The kid had flailed so much he almost got away before Jason could knock him out. He had to knock him out with his hands and anything else around him.

That 'anything else' ended up being an alley wall.

Jason, with some difficulty, managed to get this boy in the trunk of his car. He drove him to the cabin, and got everything prepared.

But when the boy woke up he was freaking out, and swearing, and yelling. Nathan would never do that. But Jason knew he had to try. So he tried to get this boy to act more like Nathan. But nothing seemed to work, or stick.

Eventually, he saw no hope for this one, and he killed him.

He buried the boy out in the backyard. But not before making sure to slice open the boy's chest cavity. Jason took one of his ribs. Because to Jason it just felt right taking the bone and keeping it. He made a special box for the bone and everything. And there was enough room in the box for many many more rib bones.

The second boy was rather the same. A street kid. Black hair, blue eyes. Thin frame, but he was closer in height to Nathan than the first, this was a plus. But this boy's teeth were just the epitome of disgusting. They were yellow from cigarette and whatever else smoke, and they were crooked in every which way.

But Jason had to try nonetheless. And the kidnapping this time went a lot smoother. Jason had moved up to chloroform on a piece of cloth to knock them out, it worked much better and cleaner than smashing their heads up against a wall.

This boy was just about the same amount of behaved as the first. So Jason had to kill him too. Taking a lovely rib bone and burying him next to the first.

The third was a bit different though.

The third boy looked a little less like Nathan than the first two, but he was handsome in his own unique way. He also already had Nathan's personality. So, what could go wrong?

So many things went wrong that day. In his attempt to take that boy, someone saw him. They yelled out, he was distracted by them and the boy broke free from his grasp and ran away. The next thing Jason knew, the police were on him.

He was arrested. They kept him in a cell in the police station, and asked him a lot of questions. He told them that he was just having an argument with the boy, who had owed him money. It was a good enough lie, and because of the corruption in the GCPD it was easier to make pass. They accepted it pretty easily, and since they couldn't find the boy to question him too, they put him up for $10,000 bail.

He stayed in his cell for about two days before Margaret came and bailed him out. She was not happy about any of this, and she didn't know all of the details. He tried to explain himself, but she wasn't having any of it, she just told him not to let anything like this happen again.

So he made sure of that.

He spent about five months practicing and planning everything out, training too. He hired a personal trainer with the money he got from his job as an architect for Wayne Enterprises. He made it so he was the perfect picture of health, he built up his agility, and his strength. He eventually even got so good that he moved on from that trainer and learned a thing or two from a few well known villain based gangs. Kind of like the ones that "supposedly" killed his son. But he couldn't think about that.

He learned a lot over that period of time, and then his "trainers" told him he could go up against Batman himself if need be. He even had people offering him jobs, mostly assassin jobs, but jobs nonetheless. He became quite the ninja. Good at sneaking up on people, good at making agile movements. There was no way any of his Nathans were getting away anymore.

So, he started planning out his kidnappings more too. He would pre-chose a victim that had all the aspects of Nathan, and he'd take them.

Luckily no one connected his kidnappings to each other because of the fact that the police would never find any bodies, and because no one even bothered looking for those street boys he previously took. Everything was perfect.

His total amount of Nathans by this time was twelve. He'd successfully taken twelve Nathans, having to kill them all too. None of them were right for the part of Nathan. It'd either be something in their looks, or their personality, or they simply struggled too much. But in the end of all of this, he saw _him_.

Richard John Grayson.

He was absolutely perfect in everyway, and Jason knew that he had to have him.

The only problem was the fact that he was the ward of Bruce Wayne, therefore hard to get to. But luckily because of his employment at Wayne Enterprises, he was able to find out as much about Richard's patterns as possible. Including the fact that if Bruce Wayne or his butler couldn't pick him up after a day at Gotham Academy, Richard would take a certain route home.

Jason used this information to plan out how exactly he was going to take Richard cleanly and carefully, no accidents.

Days went by, that turned into weeks. Eventually after a month of planning and waiting, Richard had to take that path home from school. The path that Jason would be waiting for him on.

It went perfectly. All Jason could hope for after that was that Richard would be the one. The one to replace Nathan, then maybe Margaret would take him back if he gave her her son back. Maybe things could go back to normal. And they'd be a happy family again.

Maybe that pounding in his head would go away once and for all. But he guessed that it was really only up to Richard as to whether he would accept his new role or not. Because if he did...

They could finally go home.

* * *

**(1) The League of Smiles is actually a Joker based gang I got from DC comics, so I didn't make that one up. They talk about that gang a lot in "Joker, Death of the Family".**

**Well, anyway. WOOOOOHH! I'm super proud of this! It's the longest chapter yet and my writers block is completely gone! WOOOOOH!**

**Be happy! I'm happy! Let's just see what happens next time then. And I guess we all know now how Jason kidnapped Dick with such ease, so that's good. *eyebrow wiggle***

**REVIEW! WOOOH! REVIEW.**


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